Inevitably Unavoidable
by ShiningStarr
Summary: .COMPLETE. .Humans Only. Bella thinks life couldn't suck any more than it does at this point, but could nearly being killed by a car be the best thing that ever happened to her, especially when the driver is a hot British guy? B
1. Chapter 1: This is Only the Beginning

HELLO to my lovely fanfictioneers! I haven't really been doing good at updating ANYTHING, but this is a story I wrote over the course of a few months and it is FINISHED already! So I'll be updating regularly (bug me if I don't post a chapter one week) and hopefully I'll be putting up two or three chapters a week. : ) I hope you enjoy it! Send me a message and tell me what you think!

**disclaimer: I own absolutely no part of the Twilight franchise (even though I'd love to) but I do own this story plot. You steal, you die.**

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Chapter 1: This is Only the Beginning

I'm not really sure how everything happened…or even why it happened. I thought my world was ending but…really…it was just one part of my life stopping as I moved into another. It felt like I'd wasted four years of my love on one person after we ended, but I learned quite a bit from those years. I learned not to give my heart away so easily, you have to guard it carefully so if someone hurts you, you can at least have the satisfaction of knowing they didn't hurt you as much as they could have.

My fiancé had just broken up with me in a coffee shop; an appropriate place so I wouldn't embarrass myself by causing a loud commotion over it. Had we been alone somewhere I would have started shouting and crying; instead…I sat there silently and tried to hold my tears back until I could get inside of my apartment.

His d*mned ring was still on my finger so I took it off and threw it. He didn't ask for it back so I didn't care what happened to it.

He'd only proposed two months ago and we were starting to talk about our wedding. The thought of finally being married and being able to love him freely made me over-zealous…was that what scared him off? Did I do something to drive him away?

No, I wouldn't let him make me cry when he was probably already thirty minutes away at his apartment. I huffed and puffed around my apartment for a while, managing to lose control long enough for a few tears.

As I almost lost control the second time, I thought of how my friends would react when I told them after yoga. They'd probably throw huge fits and promise to go kill him; I would just laugh and say I didn't want him dead.

I guess there's always a small part of a person that wishes their saboteur would keel off of their own accord out of courtesy but…at the same time, you'd be devastated. I felt the same.

Needless to say, after stretching and deep breathing for an hour, my friends threw the fits I'd imagined. They were all screaming things at me in outrage of his actions, so I just shrugged a lot and said a few, 'I don't know's. Then came the death threats and I begged them not to act of their wishes. Killing him wouldn't solve anything, I offered.

Naturally, we should have gone somewhere to discuss this further, but we had plans for the day and people to meet. Elisa was an architect for a firm in Bakersfield, CA. She had already married at 21 but she and her husband weren't planning on children yet. Yvette was a ballet instructor in West Hollywood; she had a boyfriend, whom we were expecting to pop the question any day now. And Margot, the single doctor, lived slightly south of Los Angeles. I lived closer to Yvette than anyone, so we spent more time together but we were all close friends.

With all of my friends having such wonderful jobs, I always felt a little bummed out to be a barista in Starbucks. Sure you get free coffee, and I was the manager, but what did I have to say for myself? I knew how to make a lot of coffee…my friends were off doing all of these wonderful things and I made coffee.

As I got out of my car in the parking garage to go into my apartment building, I stopped and went over to the thick concrete rail and looked out at the city below me. So many people and I felt so alone.

I heard a car screech to stop a little too close behind me. I jumped off the ground in shock and saw some guy in an old BMW about six inches from my legs. My arms were shaking along with my breath as he stared at me with much the same expression.

Eventually I regained my senses and waved in apology as I grazed the wall behind me to go over to the elevator. My face felt completely red so I tried jabbing the elevator button about fifty times to try and make it come faster.

I was almost in the clear when someone's hand shot into the elevator door at almost the last possible second. It opened back up and the guy in the black BMW squeezed through the door before it had opened too far, "Um…sorry about that…"

Whoa, what was with the accent?

"I didn't see you standing there…I hope I didn't frighten you too much." He still had his sunglasses on.

All I could do was blink at him as I realized I was only wearing a tank top with a built in bra, a jacket that was unzipped, and a pair of black leggings that came just below my knees. "Are you all right?" He asked with his eyes still hidden. I just nodded my head quickly like an idiot.

He seemed at a loss for words as the door closed. I looked back up at him but the sunglasses were bothering me. I think he noticed because he took them off in a flurry and dropped them on the floor. He laughed and picked them up, "I'm slightly clumsy if you can't tell." His eyes met mine and I noticed how confusing the color was. I thought they were blue, but then they looked green at the same time.

"My eyes like to change colors." He laughed and dropped his head to scratch the back of his neck. I blushed again and looked away; I noticed we weren't moving so I jammed the button for floor 6 in with more force than need be. He leaned forward and hit the button for the floor 14.

Neither of us spoke until the doors opened for my floor. "Sorry again about uh…almost running my car into you." He grinned and I couldn't think of a proper way to think how my heart felt.

"Yeah uh…don't worry about it." I gave him a millisecond of a smile and stepped out into the hallway to see Sterling knocking on my door.

Without breathing, I reclaimed my place in the elevator to realize this guy was giving me a 'Wait a minute, I thought this was your floor' look. I glanced over at him with my back against the elevator wall and looked quickly down at the floor.

"Wrong level?" He mused.

"Uh…no. I just…remembered something I need to get." I replied hastily without looking up at him.

"I'm Edward, by the way." He offered his hand so I took a second to decide to shake it.

"I'm Isabella, but it's Bella for short."

"Pleasure to meet you Bella." He smiled. That accent made his words sound twice as eloquent even if they were short and simple.

"Yeah…same." I cleared my throat and tapped my fingers on the wooden rail.

"Are you anxious about something?" He asked when we were on the tenth floor.

"Uh…no. Just kind of wanting to go get some um…tea." I lied as I shook my head in an odd way.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am from Britain. I have tea up in my apartment if you'd like some. I can give you a few bags of it to last you for a few days." He smiled politely and started toying with his sunglasses.

What an offer, he almost kills me, and now he's inviting me up to his apartment for tea. "I only drink green tea." I said bluntly; for some reason he had me on edge.

"I happen to have some." He laughed as the door opened for his floor. "Would you care to join me for some? I don't know a soul around here."

He seemed nice enough so I nodded and followed him to his door. When he unlocked the door and pushed it in, I was amazed to see a rather chic apartment. "I had the place decorated. I'm terrible with putting anything in a good spot and I'm not much for colors." He laughed as he dropped his keys on his kitchen counter.

"I don't think I've painted any of my walls and I've lived in my apartment for three years." I stopped being nervous for a second and spoke like a normal person.

"Is your adrenaline wearing off from your near-death experience?" He smirked as he set a tea kettle onto his stove.

"Oh!" I had the realization that adrenaline was making me this nervous, "Yeah…I didn't realize I had so much of it running through me…" I laughed awkwardly.

"Speaking of running…did you just come home from a jog?" He pulled two mismatched mugs out of a cabinet and set them beside his stove.

"Oh," I looked down at my scant attire, "no. Yoga actually."

"Awesome. You do yoga? It's always seemed like it would be relaxing but I've never tried it. Could you teach me something easy to do?" He walked over to me as I stood just in front of his door.

"I…I'm not very good at teaching it. I mean…I can do the poses but I don't know if I could explain them very well." I shrugged and zipped my jacket up.

"Oh well, maybe later then?" He smiled and walked towards a hallway. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable wherever. I'm just going to change shirts; this one has a spot of something on it." He laughed to himself mostly.

I looked around and decided to sit at his kitchen table; I didn't want to go flop on his very un-used looking couch.

The kettle started to do the high-pitched whistle so I stood up to take it off but he ran out with his shirt over his head and one arm through, while exposing most of his chest and stomach at the same time.

Lord almighty, cute, hot accent, and a good body. Why didn't he have a girlfriend? "Sorry I ran out here like this." He blushed slightly and pulled his gray shirt on.

"Uh…no worries." I cleared my throat and sat back down.

After a moment, he set a mug down in front of me and sat down in the chair beside mine with his mug, "So, how long have you lived in California?" He asked as he blew on his tea.

"My whole life I guess…I've been here and there, but most of my life has been spent here." I nodded and crossed my legs in the chair, "I'm guessing you haven't been here very long?"

He shook his head, "Only a few months. I'm studying abroad at the moment."

"Oh, awesome. So you're a student then?" I felt better at not being the only person in Hollywood with an almost non-existent career.

"Of sorts, yes. What do you do?" He smiled and sipped on his tea.

"I'm um…I work as a barista."

"A barista? What's that-oh, you mean someone who uh…someone who makes coffee? Where?" He seemed positively enthused by this information.

"Starbucks, the one right down the street." I nodded, slightly ashamed.

"Oh my god, I'm so jealous of you! I've always wanted to do that! I can barely make drinkable coffee! Tea is kind of hard to mess up so I'm good at that but I wish so badly I could make coffee. You'll have to teach me." He obviously planned on seeing me again.

I was more surprised at how much he liked my job, "Really? You…you think its cool?" I laughed, genuinely interested.

"Absolutely! You know how to make all of those drinks and I can barely manage not to burn black coffee. Oh please, you have to teach me how to make a proper cup." He pleaded.

"All right, all right. I'll teach you how to make some coffee. Do you still want to learn a yoga pose too?" I smiled lopsidedly.

"Yes. But make it something easy. I've never done yoga." He grinned and drank some more of his tea.

After realizing I hadn't had any of mine, I blew on it and had a sip. "This is good." I remarked.

"Like I said, it's hard to mess up tea." He looked straight into my eyes and smiled.

I nodded, "I'm better at teaching how to make coffee."

"Great, then I'll be learning from an expert then." He seemed so overjoyed it was hard not to smile.

Two cups of tea and one phone call to my neighbor across the hall to see if Sterling was still there, I said goodbye to Edward at his door. "It was lovely to have met you Bella. I hope we can meet again soon, I'd like to make a decent cup of coffee as soon as possible." He laughed.

"I'll come up tomorrow morning. Just call me after you wake up, I'll show you how." I nodded.

"Great, uh…well I guess I need your phone number though. Let me grab a pen." He rushed off and got one out of his room. I wrote it on his arm because he couldn't find paper and got a firm hug before leaving.

Once I got back into my apartment, I found a note on the floor just in front of my feet. Sterling said he wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly after breaking the news and he wanted to talk things over with me to explain some things…if I wanted to see him. I laughed and tossed it to my left. As it landed on a table, I flopped on my abused couch and stared at my ceiling or…up where I knew his apartment was.

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All right, so...when I originally wrote this story, I wasn't writing it for any site specifically, but since I had it finished and whatnot, I figured I might as well post it somewhere. I hope you guys like it, but please know that they're not going to jump on each other like rabbits or anything like that right off the bat. I know you're probably laughing that I said it, but it's true. They have to get to know each other before anything too serious happens.

Anyway, if you like it, review and let me know. I love hearing what you, the reader, thinks. : )

***ShiningStarr***


	2. Chapter 2: Boycott Love, Detox to Retox

All righty then! Thanks to the three wonderful people who sent in reviews! (I would totally put your names in here, but I'm too lazy to go over to the page to get them. You know whom you are and I love you!) I'm glad to hear that you like it! Here is chapter 2 of this little shindig!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of the AMAZING Twilight franchise, but we all wish we did. I just have a copy of all four books. Oh yeah, THIS PLOT IS MINE TOO. DON'T STEAL IT OR I'LL STEAL YOUR SOUL! *roar* consider yourselves warned.**

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Chapter 2: Boycott Love, Detox to Retox

Since childhood, I was an early riser. I went to bed the moment I felt tired and always woke up early. When it came to be around nine, I was wondering if he'd forgotten to call me or forgotten about my agreement altogether.

There wasn't anything I could do but wait and since it was my one day off this week, I just took out my yoga mat and started stretching.

Later around eleven, my cell phone finally rang but I thought it was someone calling about a problem at work. I didn't recognize the number and wondered if Robert was calling me.

"Hello, this is Bella." I said calmly.

"Hey, it's me."

With those three accented words, my body loosened up more than I thought was possible after stretching.

"You know, the guy that almost cut you in half with the car yesterday?" He laughed.

"Oh, yeah. Hey, how are you?" I grinned, but remained careful about letting a guard down.

"Tired. I need a good cup of coffee-oh, I didn't wake you did I?" He gasped rather quietly.

I actually laughed when he said that, "Geez, no. I've been up since seven. Early riser since I was a kid. I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep all day."

He laughed softly, "I'm still not used to the time change. It's about eight or nine hours earlier or something like that over here. I can't seem to overcome it quick enough."

"That's understandable. So, would you like me to come up then?" I offered as I walked back to my bathroom to fix myself up a little bit.

"Yeah. Just come up whenever you're ready I suppose," He yawned quite loudly into the phone.

"All right. See ya." We both hung up and I finished brushing my hair.

Since he was horrible at making coffee, I decided to bring a blend from Starbucks because I was so used to it. As I walked up the eight flights of stairs for some exercise, I had to remember him running into the kitchen with his shirt halfway on his body. That thought was quickly followed by me shaking my head and telling myself not to be so stupid.

As I knocked on his door, I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet in anticipation. He opened the door and had a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial, "Good afternoon Bella. You're really a life saver you know? I only drink my horrible coffee to get the caffeine from it…so hopefully you'll be saving my taste buds in the process too-oh, you brought some coffee beans! Great!" He led me over to his expensive looking coffee maker and I suddenly realized how he could get confused and make horrible coffee.

After walking him through the process, step by step, he slapped his forehead in frustration, "I'm such an idiot. And here you just walk in and make it."

"I do this for a living you know. And this thing has a lot of buttons to push, don't beat yourself up about it." I smiled politely.

I assumed after making the coffee that I was free to leave, but as I went to the door he called over, "Oh, don't leave already! I was hoping we could talk some more. I do like having conversations with people other than myself and my professors."

"Well…all right. Today's my day off." I shrugged and wished I'd put on something else.

"Oh, maybe we could go out and get some lunch or something? My treat!" He said happily.

"No offense, but if you're a student abroad, I should be paying for you…unless you have wealthy parents or something in which case I envy you." I laughed.

"Uh, yeah something like that." He scratched the back of his neck again.

"If we are going to go out…let me run downstairs and change clothes." I backed towards the door.

"Why? You look perfect already…I mean, yeah, you look fine." His cheeks flushed slightly as his eyes ran away from mine. Was he serious? I had on some beat up overalls and a green t-shirt.

"Well I guess we can go whenever you're ready then." I shrugged.

He pulled on a worn-looking, plaid button up shirt and slipped on some beaten black shoes, "Let's go." Wow, he obviously didn't care about the trends, not that I minded.

"Did you have any certain place in mind? There's a place a few minutes from here I'm absolutely in love with." He smiled as we rode down in the elevator.

"Nope. Wherever you want to go I guess." I forced a small smile onto my lips and followed him to his car.

"So what are you studying over here that you can't get in merry old London?" I laughed once we'd reached a local hangout I'd been to many times.

"It's not that I can't study it at home…I just wanted to try something new, you know, see what life is like somewhere else." He shrugged and bit off a piece of pepperoni pizza.

"If you wanted to try something new, why not just take up a sport?" I laughed and ate some of my salad.

He tilted his head down and I saw him let a huge smile slip out, "Learning basketball and experiencing another way of life are two different things."

"Maybe you could learned a new way of life through basketball? Yoga transformed my life, you know." I grinned.

He just laughed quietly, "Maybe. But I didn't really want to learn basketball; I want to learn about this culture."

His eyes came into direct contact with mine and I had to look away to avoid being drawn in. My goal was to be nice but make sure he knew I wasn't looking for a relationship…without actually having to tell him that.

"You couldn't have just read a book?" I gave him a sarcastic look and ate some more salad.

"Books only let you use your imagination…living in a culture requires the use of every part of you. I'm certain it's quite the same in yoga. You can't just use one part of your body, it requires every part." He drank about half of his water in the glass and wiped his mouth off with his sleeve.

"True. You're smarter than I gave you credit for." I teased.

He rolled his eyes, "Look, I may not know how to make coffee as well as you, but I do know a lot of other things."

After driving back, he asked if I'd want to go out for dinner, "I'm not trying to make you feel like I'm stalking your or anything, but it's so nice to be able to talk to a regular person who lives here."

I figured he was being genuine and honest, so I told him I would, "There's a place I'd like to go to however, I know you'll like it."

"All right. Shall I drive or would you rather?" He asked as he pulled into a space. He was so proper when he spoke, it was slightly maddening.

"Uh, I'll drive I guess. Come to my apartment around 5." I nodded as we got out of his car.

"What number?" He asked as we walked towards the elevator.

"Six oh four." I nodded.

"I'll see you at five then." He grinned as we got in the elevator.

Immediately after getting into my apartment, I let out a heavy sigh. Well that torture was over; not that he wasn't a nice guy and all…but having to be friendly and keep it platonic was difficult, especially with him. Something about him was so welcoming and inviting, it had tried to drag me in but I'd kept my distance somehow.

To chill out, I took a long and steaming hot shower. I washed my hair and smelled it, "Hopefully he won't notice it…guys go crazy over hair that smells good."

I peered into my closet and finally pulled out a black, three-quarter length sleeve, v-cut shirt. I pulled on some dark denim skinny jeans and decided not to wear make up to try and seem a little less attractive.

My hair was slowly forming into loose barrel curls and I ran my fingers through them to try and flatten them out…but to no avail. Five rolled around suddenly and I heard a knock on my door. I slipped on some black Blowfish shoes and opened the door, "Hey, would you like to come in for a minute? I need to find my car keys."

He grinned, "Sure, if that's okay."

"Absolutely." I nodded and let him in.

"Did you decorate this yourself?" He seemed impressed. "Yes. I wasn't going for any specific theme…everything is just something I thought was cute. Kind of a hodge-podge of things." I commented as I tried to locate my keys.

The telephone rang so I walked over and looked at the caller i.d., Elisa. I picked up and gave a cheery hello.

"Hey Bells, Margot and I are going out tonight. Do you want to join us?"

"Sorry, I can't. I'm hanging out with some other people." I replied nonchalantly.

"Wow, you know other people besides us?" She laughed.

"Ha hah, funny. You're a comic, really. Yes, I do know other people." I laughed shortly.

"All right, well talk to you later then sweetheart."

"Bye Lise."

"Bye Bell Bell." She giggled. I rolled my eyes and hung up.

"I don't know I could be referred to in a plural." Edward mused.

I looked around and let out a nervous smile, "Oh uh…well I just met you yesterday and all…if I say I'm hanging out with a guy my friends will flip out. Believe me; I'm protecting you more than myself by not telling them about you."

"Why would they…flip out?" He asked curiously.

He was either a really good faker or he was really that naïve.

"I just don't…hang out with guys that much. Hardly ever really and when my friends hear about me being around a guy of any sort…they go overboard. It's nothing to worry about." I smiled and finally saw my keys on the table by my door.

We didn't speak hardly at all while driving over to a local hangout café. It made the silence nearly as torturous as Chinese Water Torture and I wanted to shake my leg or something.

He smiled when he saw the café, "I think I've been here once before. I found it randomly and I've been looking for it since."

"Oh awesome! Glad to have helped." I smiled politely as we walked in.

"So what's in like in Britain?" I asked after we'd gotten our food.

"Rains a lot. Winters are freezing and summers feel like an oven." He shook his head like he was glad to be away from it.

"Doesn't it feel so cool to live in the same place as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace where the Royal family lives? Not to mention double deckers and the London Bridge!" I gawked a little bit.

"I could say the same to you. Living in the movie capital of the world where movie stars are everywhere. Having the infamous, 'Hollywood' sign and the Hollywood Bowl…I can't imagine how fascinating it was to grow up here." He looked away as if he was daydreaming.

"I guess I can see why you wanted to leave home. Probably for the same reason I want to leave California." I shrugged.

"Besides earthquakes, I can't imagine why you'd want to leave here. Although…you can't understand why I'd want to leave London…so I guess we're at a truce?" He laughed.

"At least you can afford to travel. I'd die for a chance to go anywhere outside of this country." I sighed.

"Mexico isn't but two hours from here, if that." He pointed out.

"Let me clarify, I want to get off this continent. I've always wanted to go to Europe, it seems so exotic." I closed my eyes and imagined different places.

"Africa is exotic. Europe is just…old school living with new age technologies." He commented quietly.

"I still want to go. I'm so tired of California." I huffed and opened my eyes.

He was staring very intently at me, "I'd offer to take you, but that would seem a bit forward and I honestly can't go back for almost a year."

My face started to burn so I had to try and think of something sad, or just something else, so I wouldn't blush. "There's no way I could afford it…unless I used a credit card, ugh. That would take forever to pay off though." I laughed softly.

"I was more along the lines of thinking that-"

Someone bumped hard into me and made me fling my drink off the table.

As I became flustered and tried to pick up the ice off the floor, I noticed Edward stand up and leave the table. I assumed he was going to find someone to help clean this up; however, I was severely wrong as came back, dragging some guy by the arm.

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd hit you that hard."

I smiled lightly back and nodded, "No problem. No harm, no foul." Edward let the guy go and helped me pick up all of the ice.

While my hands slowly froze from the ice, the rest of me was warm. If he weren't so freaking sweet like that, I wouldn't have such a hard time keeping myself at a 'friends only' state of mind.

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So what do you think? Tell me honestly now. I've gotten a flame before so I think I can handle criticism...I just might post what you said in the next chapter if you're mean enough and then respond to it in the same chapter. Mwahahaha. No, I'm joking-well, I did do that once, but I'm joking about doing it now...that is, unless what you say is extremely mean and uncalled for. XDDD

All right-moving on! I know there isn't a whole lot of B&E action, but that's because they just met, and I'm building up the tension between the two. I mean...it took them half of Twilight to finally kiss! They're going to kiss before halfway through this story, I promise, but I won't tell you how long it is. MWAAHAHA. I am so evil. Not really, I'm just up too late, as usual.

**_REVIEW PLEEEEEASEY WEASY!!!_**

***ShiningStarr***


	3. Chapter 3: Perseverance is the Key

So...no reviews for Chapter 2? I'm kind of sad. : / I see that there are some people out there reading this, and yet, 3 reviews? You make a big girl like me cry...and Big Girls Don't Cry (yes, that was a Fergie reference, haha).

Anyway, here is chapter 3. I hope you like it and, please, review. Don't make me beg, I'll use puppy eyes on you.

**Disclaimer: _I don't own any microscopic bit of the Twilight franchise, not even a quark of it. I do own this plot, so DON'T take it._**

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Chapter 3: Perseverance is the Key

We stayed at the café for a while and I was ready to go home, but he just wanted to keep talking to me. I couldn't blame him, from what he'd told me already, he was excited to be here and learn about this country, but he couldn't meet too many new people that often.

As the hours rolled by, I didn't notice myself loosening up towards him. I also failed to notice we kept leaning closer towards each other. He smiled at me and asked, "So how does a girl like you not have a line of men waiting outside your door? You seem absolutely lovely."

Mentioning men outside my door immediately made me recoil into my chair, "Eh, I don't know that many guys."

He didn't seem to notice that I'd almost shut down emotionally, "I know, but don't you ever go somewhere and have men come up to you?"

"Uh, no. It's happened once or twice…but I don't look like a lot of the California blondes out here." I shrugged and sighed softly.

"I'm sorry, that just shocks me. You're such a lovely person." His grin widened if it were possible.

Oh no, I could feel the heat rising in my body…slowly making its way towards my face. I had to think of something else fast-I still don't know why Sterling broke up with me!

That certainly took the heat out of my face.

"Look, would you mind if we headed back? I'm getting tired and I have to be at work early tomorrow." I moved my chair back and checked my phone for messages.

"Oh, sorry, yes. How stupid of me to keep you out like this. I just didn't notice the time going by so quickly." He laughed and ran his fingers through his hair.

I had a sudden impulse to do the same so I just dug my nails into my palm to send a message to my hands to behave themselves.

He kept talking on the way back to the apartment, but I could only offer a comment here and there as I was mentally preoccupied. When we got up to my floor, he pulled me into a hug that made me want to melt, "Thanks so much for putting up with me for this long." I wanted to say, 'No problem, anytime you want to see me I'll be there.' Instead, I just laughed and patted him on the back.

"Maybe I'll come by and see you at work. I'd like to taste some of your other work." He joked. I rolled my eyes and smiled as I walked down the hall.

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As I paced in front of my bed, unable to sleep, I grew more and more frustrated with each pivot at the end of my walking space. To distract myself from my thoughts that I obviously was developing some sort of feeling for Edward, I reminded myself of how ticked off I was at Sterling for leaving me high and dry. That conversation with my parents had been difficult on my brain.

After an hour of walking around my room, I just flopped down onto my bed and shut my eyes. Somehow I actually managed to fall asleep.

In my dreams, I was lying on my bed and Sterling walked through my door in a pair of gray pajama pants. He immediately got on the bed and pulled me into a rather unchaste position. I felt like I was screaming but nothing came out of my mouth. As soon as I realized this, Sterling disappeared and Edward was sitting at the foot of my bed in some old jeans and a beat up, unbuttoned, plaid shirt. He smiled and sweetly remarked, "You're such a lovely person. I wish you could go to London, you'd love it."

My eyes opened and I sat upright in a second. A shadow moved from my window so I turned around to see what I figured was a bird. I rubbed the heels of my hands against my eyes and lay back down. I managed to sleep through the rest of the night without any bizarre dreams…unless you'd count the one about me being the Easter Bunny, but instead of hiding carrots, I hid neon paper clips.

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Work seemed like the last thing I wanted to do, but what else was I fit for? I knew how to make coffee and I knew how to do yoga. Maybe I didn't really hate my job; I just had contempt for it because my three gal pals were doing better things with their lives.

I called Yvette and she picked up right away, "Yes darling?"

I laughed, "I'm having a dilemma."

"About what?"

"I hate my job…well, I don't hate it, but it's not amounting to anything like your job or Elisa's or Margot's." I huffed.

"If only you'd realize your job makes a lot of people's jobs go better in the morning. Without my morning cup of coffee from Starbucks…I'd be dead walking into the studio." She laughed.

"Maybe, but you're doing something you love…I like coffee okay, but…this isn't something I want to do forever." I groaned quietly.

"You majored in Marketing and Advertising, why don't you get a job as a Creative Director or something?" She suggested.

"I don't know…sometimes I feel like I only did that because I had to pick a major. I just don't know what I want to do with my life… actually I take that back, I want to travel. I want to travel to every country in the world and see what life is like outside of this boring old town." I huffed again.

"Traveling requires money sweetheart. Hey, maybe you could be an airline stewardess? Free flights and you'd get to travel for a living." She offered.

"I think if I wanted to be a trans-continental stewardess, I'd have to know another language. I know a small bit of French but that's it." I was sure this was going to be my life: making coffee.

"Well sweetie, either stay at Starbucks and be mildly okay with your job or find a new one. I have to go, but call me later okay?"

"All right, bye."

As I dragged myself down the stairs to work, I found myself wanting another day off. I needed a vacation from this torture; I pulled out my phone and called another manager to ask if she could fill in for me. I said I wasn't feeling well and didn't want anyone else to catch anything.

What I really meant was that I wasn't feeling in the right spirits to be at work and if I came, everyone would know it and possibly empathize. She said it wasn't a problem and said I could take as much time off as I needed, she'd cover for me.

Now that my day was free, I found myself wanting to go upstairs and see him, but that was the stupidest thing I could have thought of. Instead, I went back upstairs and got out my yoga mat for some deep relaxation.

After ten minutes of my deep relaxing, I fell asleep with the small bean bag over my eyes and the relaxation music playing in the background. Did I forget to mention the warm blanket I'd wrapped firmly around my entire body?

My eyes slowly opened and I saw Edward staring down at me, "Um…are you all right?"

I found it very odd I didn't freak out to see him standing over me, "Didn't want to go to work today. I needed another day for myself…I'm just stressed." I pulled the blanket off of myself and folded it up.

"What were you doing?" He asked curiously.

"Deep relaxation. It's part of yoga, it helps to clear the mind and relax the body. It's hard not to fall asleep." I smiled.

"Well…sorry to have burst in on you…but I went over to Starbucks around ten and you weren't there…so I called you a few times and you didn't pick up. I came up here and knocked…obviously you didn't answer so I turned the knob just in case it was open…and I found you like this." He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Laugh if you want, I was very relaxed. Wait, did you say you came around ten? What time is it?" I looked around for a clock.

"Almost eleven." He looked at his watch.

"Wow…I must have been asleep for…four hours…wow." I stood up and walked into my kitchen to make some green tea.

"You must have needed it. You look refreshed now." He laughed lightly.

"I feel like it, I just really need some green tea. Would you like some?" I offered.

"Sure, I'll try some." He nodded and sat down on my couch.

Funny, I don't remember offering for him to sit there.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me. Do you mind me sitting here?" He stood up rather quickly.

I laughed, "No, it's okay. I was starting to wonder if you were habituating to American culture." I joked.

He laughed quite loudly at that, "Oh my…maybe I am a slight bit."

I brought the two cups over and set them down on top of some coasters. "We have to let it steep for two minutes and then it's drinkable," I cautioned when he reached for his.

"Oh, all right then. So what do you have planned for yourself to do today?" He asked politely.

"Me lying on the floor was as far as I'd figured," I grinned. "I just feel like relaxing today."

"I'm a relaxed person in general," He mused out lout, "so I need to become more active. Otherwise I'll turn into a slob." I laughed lightly.

He sipped on his tea when I advised him and made a slight face, "I don't know…it's just a different taste for me. It'd take some getting used to."

I smiled and sipped on mine, "If you can get used to this country, you can get used to that tea." He gave me that toothpaste commercial smile again and I found myself temporarily lost in a daydream.

I snapped back to reality when I realized he was moving closer towards me, but trying to be incognito about it.

"I'm curious…from what you've seen so far, is dating in London any different than it is here?" I was trying to send a message by saying that while sounding slightly harsh.

"Maybe a little bit…just slightly different tactics or traditions." He seemed unperturbed by my ploy and continued to smile at me, much to my infuriation.

This time, he moved closer while making direct eye contact with me.

"Would you venture to guess that breaking up happens the same as well?" Sterling seemed to be my 'get out of jail free' card.

This made him lean back slightly, "What's with the sudden interest in dating habits between two countries?"

If this didn't make him realize my subtext, nothing would, "My boyfriend broke up with me a little bit ago and I'm just frustrated by it. I can't figure out what happened. We were getting along so well and then one day he just decides to end it."

"I can't really see any character flaws in you so it must have been for personal reasons." He smiled encouragingly.

"I don't know…I feel like I did something to provoke this." I huffed and stood up to pace in front of the coffee table.

"If you did, I'm sure you didn't mean to." He didn't get up and I was grateful. Maybe he'd finally gotten my message.

Edward was an absolute gentleman, trying to make me feel better and being pretty darn polite about it.

"I have a confession actually…the day I met you and I jumped back into the elevator?" He nodded, knowing what I meant. "My boyfriend-…ex-boyfriend was standing outside of my door and I didn't want to see him…" I shrugged and looked at the floor, a little shameful.

"I was wondering why you did that…I mean I know you said you'd forgotten to get something, but usually one might just keep the door from closing and step back in." He laughed a little too heartily at it, but after a moment of consideration, it was funny. I'd probably looked like an idiot.

* * *

A really long time and some more green tea later, his eyes wandered down to his wrist and then widened considerably, "Crap, I completely lost track of time, it's almost eleven. You probably need to go to bed if you work tomorrow," He stood up in a hurry and I found myself not wanting him to leave.

I pushed those thoughts away and told myself he needed to leave; I shouldn't keep missing work when I wasn't actually sick. That was wrong of me to do in the first place; I should have just sucked it up and gone.

"Uh…" I hated that I wanted him to stay, "well…"

"I'm sorry; you did say earlier you had to work tomorrow, didn't you? I might have just made that up in my head," He gave me that dazzling smile as if I needed to be any more confused right now.

Did I want to go to work tomorrow or not? Not really, but it wasn't healthy for me to keep spending time around him like this. His English charm was gnawing away at the walls I had around me.

Crap, I really needed to make a decision before he started giving me weird looks. Was I, or wasn't I going to work tomorrow? I knew I needed to stay far away from him, but it was so wonderful to be around a guy that treated me so kindly.

"Yes, I do have to work." I finally nodded. He almost seemed disappointed but turned his head and moved his eyes away from mine before I could see much of anything in his face.

* * *

Oh, I know you didn't want it to end right there, I'm sorry! I've been known to end chapters in the best/worst places possible, haha. Anyway, I know what you're thinking, "WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO MAKE OUT?!?" Honestly, it won't be for a couuuuuple more chapters. I have to build up some intensity (Intensity in Ten Cities! - Wayne's World reference, haha) between these two before anything major happens. And just in case you're wondering, yes, I will be making the waiting as painful as possible, mwahahahahahaha.

XD So, now that you've read...please take thirty seconds and tell me what you thought of the story! You may not think this, but I really do enjoy hearing what you guys have to say. I reply to everyone no matter how long it takes me! So **_REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!!!!!_**

***ShiningStarr***


	4. Chapter 4: Surreptitiously

So, I got a couple reviews (Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos, Musette Fujiwara, and sweetsurprise26!) this time. That's cool...I guess I was just used to getting a bit more than 2 reviews on a chapter when I posted stuff a lot more frequently a few years back. Do people just not really review stuff anymore? Is that out of the internet social "norm"? Am I asking for too much? : [ Or is it just because there aren't any vampires in this story? XD

Haha, anyways, here is chapter four.

**_Disclaimer: The Twilight Saga is to Stephenie Meyer as this plot is to me._**

* * *

Chapter 4: Surreptitiously

Upon awakening, I found myself dreading work today. The fact that I envisioned spending another day with Edward made myself dread what I felt was happening.

After managing to drag myself to work, I had to throw away my grim exterior and replace it with a cheerier one to please customers. Two hours of pretending to not care that I wasn't within ten feet of Edward passed by and I could feel it within me that I was falling for him.

My 'get out of jail free' card walked through the door and I couldn't tell if I was upset or relieved. I pretended I hadn't noticed him until he got up to the counter, "Hey Bella…when do you go on break? We need to talk."

"Uh…" I looked at a clock, it was time for my break but I didn't know if talking to him would be the best thing right now.

"Please Bella?" He begged quietly.

"Now I guess…" I got one of the other girls to cover my spot while I went out for my break.

He followed me back to my tiny office, "I've been trying to contact you for a week Bella. I've called you probably a hundred times and I've been over to your apartment once or twice. Why won't you talk to me?"

Calmly, I sat down in my chair and sighed, "Why would you think I'd want to talk to you?"

"Because…because I know you Bells, you've probably been wondering why I ended our relationship." He sat down in the chair across from my desk and leaned towards me.

"Okay, let's say I have, what do you think I've been going through?" I poised the question with a quiet ferocity I didn't know I had.

"Too much for one person. Probably going through every detail wondering where we went wrong. Wondering if it was your fault…Bella I'm so sorry. I just couldn't go through with it. I thought we were perfect for each other…I felt like you were the one, you know?" He huffed evenly.

I only nodded.

"I don't know what happened…I loved you so much but after we were engaged and we started talking about the wedding…I got freaked out and it didn't feel right." He leaned further over the desk and tried to grab my hand.

I leaned as far back as I could before my chair hit the wall, "Couldn't you have talked to me about this rather than just breaking our engagement off for no apparent reason? Do you have any idea how much I cried that night?"

That was an outright lie, but I wanted him to suffer.

He shut his eyes and let his head hang, "Yes, I should have talked to you, but I knew you'd tell me I was just getting too anxious or something. Yes, I was anxious, but something inside of me just didn't feel right about it. And I'm sorry for making you cry, you know I hate seeing you cry more than anything."

"Sterling…you can't just…break up with women like that. I had no warning, no signs telling me we were on the rocks. You just broke up with me and I had to go home wondering what had just happened." I complained.

His hands grabbed at his hair, "I know…I feel so horrible for breaking up with you like that. I want to make it up to you, but being apart like this makes any attempt at repairing this awkward."

"Look, why don't we just agree never to speak again? It would be easier on both of us." I huffed, frustrated.

"Don't you see though? I do want to see you again." He laughed lightly.

"Huh?" I was now confused.

"Maybe I just got premature cold feet…but I hate being away from you. These past few days have been torture for me." He gave me a longing look. "Bella, I want you back in my life…but…just as my girlfriend. We were perfectly happy that way." He smiled.

"I don't want to be 'just as your girlfriend' Sterling! Can't you see what I want? I want to get married and maybe have kids. I want someone to lie down with and feel perfectly happy just being in his arms." I leaned over my desk at him and he leaned back into his chair.

"Bella…I'm just not ready for all that. I'm twenty four…I don't know if I'm mentally prepared for marriage and kids. Surely you can try to understand." He pleaded quietly.

It was my turn to sit back in my chair; sure, maybe I understood, but I didn't want him to be the one to say he wasn't ready. I thought we were a perfect match but apparently he had commitment issues, great!

"I need to get back to work Sterling." I stood up, hoping he would too…he didn't.

"No you don't, we've been in here for five minutes. Just sit down and talk to me about this." He asked slightly commandingly.

Begrudgingly, I sat back down in my chair, "If you want to talk in depth about this we might as well go to a couple's therapist or something. From everything you've said so far you want to get back together, just not to get married." I grumbled and rubbed my forehead.

"We don't need to pay someone to listen to our problems. We can talk this out Bell, we're mature adults." He replied persuasively.

This was really beginning to feel like razors scraping against my nerves or something, "If I say what I want…someone is going to get mad and we're going to end up yelling. I'm just saying a therapist would give us a place to go to talk it out rationally and calmly."

He nodded, "If going to a therapist will make you feel more comfortable then we'll go, okay?"

Sterling was always an expert compromiser; I'd always told him he'd be an excellent negotiator for the FBI or somebody like that.

I nodded my head and sighed. "Don't sound so depressed Bella, you got what you wanted."

"It's not even about that." I sighed softer this time; in truth, I was wondering why I pushed so hard for this to happen. After all, didn't I not want to be around Sterling? I didn't want to be with Edward, but I would rather be around him with a platonic relationship than to go back to being 'just a girlfriend' to Sterling…as odd as that was.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked softly.

"I just didn't want to be at work today. I took yesterday off and it was wonderful…I'm just tired of work right now." I huffed loudly.

"Take a vacation then. You've been working here for almost five years, have you ever taken a vacation?" He asked politely.

I laughed to myself, "No…I guess I have a lot of time saved up though. Maybe I'll go drive to Montana and chill at a ranch for a week, what do you think?"

He rolled his eyes, "You'd die without your modern technology."

"I wear overalls, drink green tea, and do yoga every day. I'm not completely dependant on technology." I smirked.

"Sure," He laughed, "well I need to get going. I'll schedule an appointment as soon as I can, just make sure to listen to my message if I leave you one."

I nodded as he stood up to leave.

* * *

Work finally ended and when I got up to my apartment, all I wanted to do was sleep. I flopped on the couch and fell asleep immediately.

Someone woke me up by knocking on my door. "Who is it?" I called.

"It's Edward."

I ran to the door, surprising even myself, but I waited a few seconds until I opened the door, "Hey, what's going on?"

"Not too much…I was bored and didn't know if you were home from work yet. Were you asleep?" He looked at my cheek and smirked.

"Uh…yeah, why?" I rubbed my hand over my face.

"The left side of your face is red." He grinned.

"Ugh…well yes, I was sleeping. Work was just exhausting today…oh, that reminds me. Come in, I need to make a phone call really fast." I walked over to my phone and dialed the district manager; I asked how much vacation time I had: a month. I proceeded to ask if I could take two weeks off and she said I could take the whole month if I wanted. "No, no, just two weeks is fine." She agreed and asked when I'd like to start my vacation. "Tomorrow?" She said that was fine and that was the end of the conversation.

Edward was standing just inside of my door when I turned around, "You can sit down if you'd like."

He smiled, "Didn't want to get too comfortable if you made me leave or something."

"Why would I make you leave?" I laughed, slightly confused.

He looked down at the floor and shook his head as he laughed to himself, "I don't know, just being cautious. So…work was tiresome? Were you exceptionally busy today?"

I put some water to boil to make some green tea, "We're always busy…after five years you learn how to cope with being tired of it…but today I was just completely wiped out."

"Could you make me a cup as well?" He asked from my couch.

"Sure, no problem." I smiled.

"So, you've been working there for five years? Wow…no wonder you're such an amazing coffee-maker." He grinned with his chin propped up on his hand.

"It's engrained into my brain. It would take a long time to forget how to make coffee." I made a tiny joke at him and he laughed.

"What were you talking about on the phone a moment ago, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked politely.

"I haven't taken any vacation since I started working. I have time saved up so I'm taking two weeks off. I need it too." I smiled and poured the water into two mugs after it started whistling.

"Oh, I wish you'd told me. I might've tried to take you to London." His grin was a little too wide.

"Like I told you before, I couldn't afford it."

I shrugged and brought him his tea, "Mm, it tastes better today."

I smiled in acknowledgement.

"That reminds me…when we were talking about that before…I was going to tell you something but we were interrupted by…by that guy that bumped into you! Well yeah, um…I was going to offer to help cover some of your expenses…if it wouldn't bother you too much." He almost had a sad puppy face on.

"No Edward, I barely know you. I couldn't ask you to do that." I shook my head firmly.

"We have talked a lot though. I know your personality at least…maybe not your likes and dislikes…but I think we know each other more than you think we do." He smirked.

He was right…we had talked a considerable amount over the past few days. I couldn't help but to think how much more peaceful this was than being with Sterling.

"I could never ask you to pay my way to London, Edward. I'm a pretty independent woman you know, I'd die of embarrassment if you were to pay for me," I grinned.

He laughed, "You American woman do love being independent…I just wish you'd learn to let a man take care of you from time to time. We do like to take care of our sweethearts whether you'd know it or not." His smile was almost a caress against those walls around my hearts.

"I think we know it all too well…we just don't want to feel like we're taking advantage of our men." I rebutted.

"Couldn't I just pay for you, and you pay me back at your convenience? I don't charge interest like credit card companies do and I won't slap on a late fee if you don't me pay every month." He grinned.

I shook my head, "I just want to pay for it, okay?"

He sighed, "You're giving up a wonderful time to be in London too. Just when it's between summer and fall…" "You said you wished that I had told you and you might have been able to take me…even if I let you pay for me, you probably couldn't have taken me because of whatever's on your schedule." I pointed out.

"I also said I _might've_ tried to take you to _London_…I may not be able to take you _there_, but I could take you somewhere in the continental U.S." He was holding it over my head like some delicious treat.

"I'm not letting you pay for me Edward…if we went anywhere I mean."

"Why don't we go to Arizona and see the Grand Canyon? It's not too far from here. A few hours drive, what do you say? You could just pay for gas, I'd drive."

The toothpaste commercial worthy smile was unleashed on me again.

"I just don't know if it's right for us to go somewhere like this together so soon after meeting." I sighed.

"What would it hurt? We're only friends, right?" He gave me a look that made me feel guilty for some reason.

"Yeah…we're just friends…but weird things happen when two people spend time together like that. I don't want to end up in an awkward situation." I proposed.

"I could put you in an awkward situation right now, what's the difference between us talking right now and us talking in a car on the highway?" He replied right back.

"I'm not talking about that…well maybe a little bit…but I imagine we'd stay at a hotel…and it'd be less expensive with one room…but even with separate beds…I just haven't known you long enough to sleep in the same room as you." I sighed slowly.

He laughed for a moment before responding, "I'll sleep in the car then."

* * *

All right, things will get a little spicier from here, I promise. I know you all want to read the delicious details of their first kiss and whatnot, but you'll have to wait a little longer for that. I have an evil knack for delaying things. : )

Btw, who are you guys picturing Sterling as? I was wondering if I should just cast him as Jacob or someone to include some more Twilight characters? Or do you like only having the character names 'Bella' and 'Edward'? Maybe we can all just picture Sterling as whomever we secretly want Bella to be with? haha.

Either way, **_ REVIEW. Please_**? *puppy eyes*

***ShiningStarr***


	5. Chapter 5: None For Me Please

ahhhhhhhhhhh, i was almost finished editing this chapter and i clicked on something and all of the changes went away. **TT**-**TT**

**argh.** anyways, thanks to the three awesome people who reviewed (**motherduckatschool, hottie911,** and **sweetsurprise26**). I love you peeps.

So, ever wonder what I listen to as I write or edit these chapters? Wonder no more. I'll try to put some song titles up here for you to check out if you want to listen to them as you read. As I was editing this chapter, I found that I liked 'Can You Keep A Secret?' and 'This City Is Contagious' by The CAB. If you've never heard them or never heard OF them, go check them out. Alex D. (the singer) has some killer vocals and this band just amazes me in general.

**_DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer wrote the Twilight Books. I wrote this story. Don't mix the two up. And don't steal either of them._**

* * *

Chapter 5: None For Me Please

The window was down and my hair was blowing in the wind…or should I say my hair was being blown in my face by the wind? Either way, I still couldn't figure out how Edward had managed to convince me to go on this road trip with him to Arizona. He'd probably oozed charm and zeal while his smile threatened to diminish my sanity.

He had on these black sunglasses, quite Fifties vintage looking, but they suited him very well. His hair was blowing too perfectly and he had a small smile on the corner of his lips. The radio was on some station with light rock, I wasn't paying much attention to it as I looked out the window.

He had on a black t-shirt with a small pocket on the left side of his chest and a pair of baggy blue jeans, slightly worn-looking. I was wearing a gray yoga jacket with a light pink tank top underneath it and a pair of black skinny jeans. Sadly, he pulled off the baggy, casual look far better than I thought myself to.

"So, have you ever been to the Grand Canyon before?" he turned the radio off but didn't roll the windows up.

"Once, when I was five. I don't really remember it though. My mom has the pictures somewhere but I've never looked at them." I shrugged.

"That's terrible! Why wouldn't you look at them?" He scoffed.

"I had a cast on my leg. A kid down the block tripped me one day while I was minding my own business and I stumbled a few steps before falling onto a rock…or rather, I fell and the rock hit my leg." I sighed and remembered hobbling around with my miniature crutches.

"I'm certainly sorry about that. This time you won't have to worry about that. I promise I won't trip you." He grinned wide enough to make me laugh.

After an hour or two he spoke up again, "Ever been to Vegas? There's an exit for it in a few miles."

I looked over at him, "Are you serious? What would we do in Vegas? I've never gambled in my life and the only time I've rolled dice was for a board game which, by the way, I haven't played one since I was nine!"

"We could go see the fountain in front of the Bellagio…see the Eiffel Tower, go to a show, or get drunk and get married! The choice is all yours!" He laughed.

I couldn't hide my smile even behind my hand, the thought of marrying Edward took a lot of concentration to make sure I didn't try to develop feelings because from it, "I don't think Vegas is my kind of town."

"Actually, I didn't think about starting this road trip until tomorrow…It's already ten o'clock and we wouldn't get to Phoenix until…well, the morning." He sounded embarrassed.

"Let's just find a hotel on the side of the interstate then and stay there for the night." I shrugged.

"Oh come on Bella! Vegas is five miles away! We'll just stay somewhere there tonight. I'll pay for the room; you've got the gas bill." He looked over at me with that annoyingly beautiful smile.

"Look, since you've made it sound like you have money somewhere, don't go off getting some expensive room! I'll feel like I'm not pulling my weight." I huffed.

"What if I'm used to nicer rooms and getting anything cheap would make me feel uncomfortable?" He smiled with his joke.

"Learn to adapt Edward." I shook my head and grinned underneath my hand.

I just realized I hadn't told my gal pals I was going anywhere or that I was going somewhere with some_one_; if I called and told them now they'd flip out and think I was going to be raped and murdered. I pulled my purse off the floor and found myself paralyzed when I couldn't find my phone; I sat up calmly and retraced my steps in my mind until I realized I'd left it in the kitchen. It would be dead by the time I got home and I couldn't call anyone to turn it off because no one else had a key.

"So, we're agreed we're staying in Las Vegas, right?" He smirked smugly.

"I suppose so." I laughed, "I don't see how I'd be able to change your mind."

He gave me a thoughtful look before replying, "It might not be as hard as you'd think."

Ten minutes later we were driving through the streets of Las Vegas in his beat up BMW, looking for a hotel to stay in. "How about the Bellagio?" He grinned.

"No, I'll throw myself in the fountain." I grumbled.

He stifled some laughter and looked for another hotel, "How about the Mirage?" I glared at him.

"Just let me pick a place to stay and I won't tell you how much it is, does that sound fair? I'm a tourist and I want a good experience while I'm abroad." He put on his accent a little thicker and laughed.

"Oh shove it, you fakeoid." I rolled my eyes.

He burst out laughing and nearly ran into the car in front of us, "You're very funny, did you know that?"

"I have my dad's sarcasm and my mother's dry humor." I shrugged.

He laughed again, "Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to."

"Why?" I gave him an odd look.

"Because I'm going to pick a hotel and I don't want you to see which one." He looked back at me with an eyebrow raised and a childish smirk on his lips.

"Fine." I huffed and crossed my arms.

It felt like we turned around at one point but we finally pulled in somewhere, "Don't open your eyes. I'm going to go in and get a room, and then I'll come back and park the car." He sounded like he was a few inches away from my ear. I nodded and tried to keep myself from blushing.

After a few minutes, he opened the door and immediately spoke so I'd know it was him, "Got a room, now to park!" I sighed and felt myself getting drowsy.

"When can I open my eyes?" I asked when I felt the car stop.

"Now I guess, just don't look around too much." He laughed.

We got into the elevator and he told me to close my eyes again, luckily no one else was in the elevator. He led me down a hallway into a room and told me to open my eyes.

"If I open my eyes and see a huge room I'm going to go sleep in your car." I threatened.

I heard the door lock behind me, "Please don't, I promise you'll love it." His hands rested on my shoulders and pushed me forward a few steps. "You can open your eyes now."

My eyes didn't seem to want to open at first, as if they knew by doing so I'd flip out, "I don't know if I want to."

"Just open your eyes Isabella!" He laughed with his hands still on my shoulders.

With some effort, I forced my eyes open and stifled a huge groan.

"Well, what do you think?" He asked happily and trotted over to the large and luxurious looking couch.

"I think I'm going to jump out the window; how much did this cost?" I frowned.

"You pay for gas, I pay for the room. You don't ask how much this is; I won't ask how much the gas is. Do we have a deal?" He stood up from the couch and walked up to me.

I eyed him for a minute before sighing, "Deal." I'd just have to buy every single dinner for him to feel like I'd made up for the cost of this room.

"Great! Your room is over to the right and I'm on the left. Do you want to go straight to sleep or watch a movie or something like that?" He inquired as he picked his duffel bag up.

"I'd rather go to sleep if you don't mind." I picked mine up and went straight into my room.

If I'd seen him watching me walk to my room, I would have turned bright red. Maybe I didn't see him look at me, but I could feel his stare on my back, "Uh…goodnight." I called without turning around.

"Goodnight Bella. Don't try sneaking out to my car to sleep; I have an alarm on it." He laughed. I laughed silently and shut my door.

* * *

Before we'd even started on our road trip, I knew the whole thing was a terrible idea. I couldn't be sure what his intentions were for me but I knew they'd either be to make me fall in love or just to strengthen a friendship.

As I stood in the shower, unmoving, I tried to let my mind unfold and relax. This short time around him was making me more stressed than I'd noticed while actually beside him. Should I talk to him and make sure this was platonic? But if it wasn't, he'd be shocked and possibly hurt that I didn't feel the same way and then the rest of the trip would be awkward.

Maybe a good night's sleep would help clear my head? Although, just going into the room and looking at the bed, I could tell the sheets were probably some high count of Egyptian cotton. I pulled on a light tank top, some striped shorts, pulled my hair into a messy bun, and slid into the extremely comfortable bed.

A loud, relieved sigh came from my lips, but I just smiled. I couldn't deny to myself that I felt like royalty in this bed. I rolled over onto my right side, away from the door, and turned the lamp off.

Sleep was about to capture me, but he knocked on my door. "What is it Edward?" I called.

"Do you mind if I open the door?" He said normally.

"Sure." I responded.

He paused for a moment, "Sure you do mind or sure you don't mind?"

I grinned, "I don't mind."

The door slowly opened and he looked around the room before spotting me in the bed, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

"Not yet. Do you need something?" I envisioned him saying, 'you' in my head and it made me blush; thankfully the lights were off.

"Just giving you another chance to watch some television with me. There's some movie called 'Wait Until Dark' about to come on." He sounded like he'd never heard of it.

In a flurry, I threw the sheets off of my body and dashed to the door, "All right, I change my mind." I laughed and ran past him to the couch.

He turned around and leaned against my doorway while laughing, "I'm assuming you've heard of it?"

"It's only one of the best Audrey Hepburn movies that no one knows about!" I laughed and hugged a pillow against my stomach.

With a ruffle of his hair and another toothpaste commercial smile, he almost sauntered over to the couch where he proceeded to sit right next to me. "Do you mind if I put my arms on the back of the couch? My shoulders feel tight and I wanted to stretch them a bit," He had a humorously innocent look on his face as he asked.

"Uh…sure. Just don't try any moves on me slick, or I'll hurt you!" I joked.

He nodded, "No moves, I promise."

As the movie started, I grinned and felt a small chill run down my legs. I turned my head to say something and found him way too close.

"Oh, sorry!" He pulled his head back, "I'm sorry Bella, my neck was a little tense too and I was leaning my head over to stretch it out, I promise!"

If I hadn't known better, I would have said he was smelling my hair. "Hah, no problem." I was fortunate enough to be in the dark so he wouldn't see my face turning red.

Crap, my head was trying to be sensible and steer clear of any feelings for him and my heart was beating against the walls around it. No, I said to myself, I can't allow myself to fall for every hot guy who smiles at me; that's how I fell for Sterling.

My escape card was drawn again but it only made me remember how he'd told me to make sure to answer him if he called or to at least listen to his messages.

It was hard to forget that event when it'd only happened this morning, but once I started watching the movie, it wasn't hard to forget.

His arms moved and I flinched as he drew them off the back of the couch, "Arms were starting to fall asleep…this is a pretty interesting movie. So Audrey Hepburn is blind and her husband was given a doll full of drugs by a random woman at an airport?"

I nodded, "Weird plot, I know. It's a great movie though." I shivered and felt the goosebumps prickling up all over my legs and arms.

"Are you cold?" He asked quietly.

"No…I just caught a drift of air or something," I cleared my throat quietly and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Your legs look a little cold to me. Do you need a blanket?" He laughed.

"No, really, I'm fine." I put the pillow over my thighs to warm them up a little.

"Oh come on Bella, admitting you're cold won't make you look like a wimp. That's only for men!" He laughed.

I cracked up laughing, "Okay, maybe I'm a little chilly but I don't need a blanket. I'll warm up in a minute."

"I've heard that in places where it gets very cold, people try to stay as close as possible to keep warm." He joked. "No wonder hugs make people feel all warm inside!" I said in a ditzy voice.

He pulled his jacket off, pushed the pillow off my legs, and placed his jacket over them, "That should help you warm up a bit." I nodded and thanked him.

Eventually, I was leaning against him and his arm was around my shoulders. My eyes started to shut despite the sound of the music becoming more dramatic. His arm dropped down and his hand came to rest on my waist; my head dropped onto his shoulder as I fell asleep.

When I woke up, his cheek was against my forehead and Audrey screamed. I felt warm all over and I became as terrified as she was, "'Scuse me." I mumbled as I almost ran to my room.

Maybe I should fake sick and tell him I needed to go home? I couldn't stay with him for two weeks, who knows what would happen by the time we got back to California?

* * *

"Bazinga!!" courtesy of Sheldon Cooper of 'The Big Bang Theory'. hahaha.

So, what'd you guys think? (**_P.S. I enabled Anonymous reviews_**) I'm really excited for you guys to read the rest of the story, you have no idea. haha. I mean, I want to just post all of the chapters, but that would require LOTS of editing and I wouldn't want to put up all of the chapters at once anyways, haha. Things just get better within the next several chapters and I'm hoping tenser situations will inspire you to write me more reviews. XD

Oh, and _if you'd possibly want to read some other stuff I have_, I have a quizilla account (same username: shiningstarr) and I have a couple of one shots on there about band people. If would allow stories about non-fictional people I would have probably 8 more stories on here, haha. So, go over there and read those if you want, I think I only have three or four up, but I'm planning on MAYBE posting more, I just don't have a lot of response to any of my stuff on there. : /

ANYWAYS! What'd you guys think of the songs? Do you think they fit? Oh, and no one told me whether or not they think Sterling should be changed to Jacob...Y/N??

Blah blah blah, **REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW PLEEEEEEEEAAAASSEEEE!!! **I'll beg you nice from my knees!!!! (if you know what that's from, you get fifty cool points, haha)

***ShiningStarr***


	6. Chapter 6: Celebritaunte

Oh. Ow. Ouch. My poor little heart is bleeding. **_One review_** for chapter 5? OUCH. Ouch guys. : ( On the other hand: thank you to **_motherduckatschool_** for reviewing, yet AGAIN. : ) I love you. hehe.

_But seriously, lack of reviews = lack of motivation to post new chapters. If you want me to keep posting things, please review. Is it so much to ask for?_

**_DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer wrote all of the Twilight Saga. I wrote all of these chapters. Don't steal any of them. From either of us. Or die._**

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Chapter 6: Celebritaunte

Somehow after my small fright last night, I fell asleep quickly after jumping into bed. When I got up in the morning, I was afraid to go out there and face him.

If I faked being sick, I had no doubt he'd pretend to believe me and take me home. Who knows, he may not even ask what was wrong? Nevertheless, if I was to stay, I had to make sure he knew I wanted us to be platonic.

After getting dressed and doing my morning routine, I walked out into the main room and discovered he wasn't awake yet. It was past ten and I was wondering if he'd sleep till eleven again.

I decided to knock on his door; he didn't answer so I knocked again and called his name. Again, no answer so I cracked the door open and immediately regretted it; he was asleep with the sheets down on his hips, bare chest exposed. He looked like some sort of angel who'd fallen from Heaven and landed in my hotel room.

No, I couldn't think things like that. Describing him to myself like that would only make it harder for me to convince myself I didn't like him. Without really noticing, I kept staring at him; it was hard not to stare at a man as beautiful as him.

Oh god I was making myself want to crawl onto that bed and lie down with him; I felt this yearning sensation from my gut to be next to him.

I shut the door quietly and dragged my feet to the couch where I flopped down unceremoniously.

"Why why why why why?" I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head.

All I wanted to do was groan in frustration so I did for a second. After that, I wanted to do was cry in frustration, but I wouldn't let that happen.

Apparently he'd woken up, but I didn't know it until I heard him knock on my door. The sudden sound surprised me so I pushed myself up from the couch, my left hand slid off the couch and I did an odd forward roll onto the floor, "Uh…good morning!"

My face felt hot as I sat there with my hair now frayed all around my head.

He gave me an odd look, "Why are you on the couch? Are you not feeling well?"

Oh man, he was making this too easy for me.

"Um…well I just…well no, I feel fine. I was just waiting for you to get up."

"Did you knock on my door or did I dream that?" He laughed and walked towards me; did I mention he didn't have a shirt on and was in long, black pajama pants?

"Uh, no I did. Just seeing if you were awake yet." I laughed nervously.

"Oh, well I'll try to get ready quickly so we can go ahead and get going. Do you want to eat breakfast here or get something on the road?" He stood only a few feet away from me as he asked, which made it very difficult for me to concentrate on his face.

More daydreams floated through my head so I shook my head slightly and blinked, "We can eat here I suppose."

He nodded and walked back over to his room.

Before he went in, I couldn't help but to stop him for one last look, "Are you feeling all right today?"

He turned around and stretched, like he knew that I wouldn't allow myself to know what I wanted, "Fairly well, yes. Maybe you could teach me some yoga before we go. Vitalize the mind and body a bit, what do you say?"

"Sure," I responded too fast for my own liking.

I knew I wouldn't be able to explain all the poses correctly and I'd have to end up touching him to help him assume the correct posture. I shoved the thought from my mind and ran back to my room as soon as his door had shut.

I flopped onto the bed and shoved my face into a pillow and let out a long and frustrated groan. I pulled my mat out of my bag and did a few poses myself to calm down before going back out there; wait…if I showed him the poses and told him to copy me, I wouldn't have to touch him! There we go, that'd be my way out of torturing myself.

He was sitting on the couch with his pajama pants and a white t-shirt on, looking out of the floor to ceiling windows.

"Uh…I actually brought my mat with me so…you can stand on it and I'll show you the pose so you can copy me." I avoided his eyes as I walked over and laid the mat out for him.

He stood on it and wiggled his toes, "This is nice on the feet."

I smiled and took a deep breath, "All right…I guess I'll show you deep breathing first." I instructed him to position himself as I was and then to close his eyes to concentrate more.

"That's quite relaxing actually." He grinned.

I gave him a courtesy smile back, "Try to remember to do that when doing these other poses too." I showed him the warrior pose and the half-moon pose after that, he seemed to adapt like anyone who'd never taken a yoga class before, so he was pretty shaky.

"Not bad for your first time…I guess we can work on those later." I rolled up my mat and took it back to my room.

When I came back out, he was wearing gray jeans and a brown leather bomber jacket along with the white shirt, "Do you want to order something up or go downstairs to eat?"

"Let's go downstairs." I replied, looking down at my own attire consisting of some dark denim jeans, loosely fit, and a Snoopy t-shirt.

As I sat next to him, eating faster than normal because of anxiety, I couldn't help but to notice how at ease he was with his surroundings. His hair looked unbrushed but his demeanor suggested he was unscathed by this and didn't really care about anyone else's opinions.

"Do you always dress like that?" I smiled at him.

"You mean like a guy who has no idea what fashion is? Yeah, I guess I suppose so." He laughed and took a bite of his sausage biscuit, "Do you always dress like you do?" He looked over at me as he drank some orange juice.

"Like what?" I wasn't aware of what I dressed like.

"Like a very casual girl. I can tell you're more fashionable than I am…but you always wear things that are loose or relatively seem like they wouldn't attract attention." He noted.

"I don't really care for lots of attention from other people. I like to stay under the radar all the time." I smiled to myself and twirled some leftover hash browns around on my plate.

"Do you like dressing up? Like in a form-fitting dress with your hair and make-up all done?" He turned to face me as we sat at the bar in the breakfast room.

"The last time I did that was Junior Prom…I didn't bother going senior year because no one asked me and I didn't want to buy some stupid, expensive dress I'd only wear once and waste money to stand in a gym decorated with balloons and paper streamers only to stand by the bleachers with all the other girls who didn't get asked." I let out more than I thought I would but it felt good to just say it.

"I'm sure someone wanted to ask you…they were probably under the impression you'd already been asked." He suggested and finished his toast. I shrugged and drank the rest of my water.

When we left, he didn't think about me looking to see what hotel we'd stayed at, "The Venetian?! Edward, I have to pay you back for some of the cost! I could pay for all the gas and your food and it wouldn't be enough for half!"

He cringed and sighed, "Bella, don't worry about it okay? I'm fine and you're not paying for my food."

"Paying for gas isn't enough." I insisted.

"Look, I wanted to stay there. I'm the foreign tourist and I wanted to have a good experience here. I'll pay for what I want; you'll pay for what you want." He replied firmly.

The discussion died after that and the radio came back on when we got on the interstate.

We didn't talk again until we reached Phoenix, I don't think he was much for talking in his car. I could understand it though; I didn't talk in my car a lot either.

"Do you want to pick where we stay this time? I'm still paying, but you can choose…just don't pick some place that's obviously cheap." He grinned.

"We'll never find a hotel then because I'll try to pick the cheapest looking one of the bunch." I sighed.

"Do I need to make you close your eyes again while I choose a hotel?" He chuckled.

"No, just pick whichever you want I suppose." I waved my hand dismissively.

After ten minutes, I found myself in the VIP Suite at the Hyatt Regency. Edward had said I could choose a room with two beds beside the other or a room with two bedrooms and a space in between. Needless to say I opted for the latter; no way was I sleeping in a bed next to his.

When we got up to the room, it was very nice, but not as nice as the room in Vegas had been so I was less apprehensive. "You know, I had heard about a place called Serenity Resort and Spa on Camelback Mountain or something of that sort…heard they have houses you can rent with five bedrooms, an in-home theatre, a pool and a Jacuzzi. Now that'd be a good place to stay." He joked.

"You'd be there alone. I'd sleep outside." I laughed and pulled my bag into the room on the right.

"Let's get some lunch, what do you say?" He called from his room.

"Only if you let me buy. You're making me feel like a broke college student." I laughed. We came out into the living room and decided on some fast-food, I could only afford so much if I was going to try and pay for multiple meals for him.

"How about we get really dressed up and go to a show out here one day? What do you say?" He grinned as we drove down the street.

"Two problems: no fancy clothes and I don't have money to buy a fancy dress." I pointed out, "And don't say you'll pay for it."

"What if I want to buy it and give it to you, like a present? Maybe I feel bad for nearly cutting you in half." He gave me that look again that made me feel guilty.

"I'll think about it." I replied slowly.

* * *

After we ate, we drove around until we found some boutiques where I could try dresses on. Edward said he had the final decision on the dress since he was paying for it, but I could try to convince him if I wanted to.

He made me try on dozens and dozens of dresses in four different boutiques before he finally found one he was dead set on me wearing, "You look absolutely fabulous in it Bella. What don't you like about it?" The woman helping me try dresses on had gotten fed up after the first fifteen dresses and had moved on to helping someone else; I was grateful.

"The slit and the fact that it's strapless." (Jovani style 15713).

"Well which one do you prefer then?" He smiled and gestured around the store like he hadn't just spent three hours looking for a dress for me.

I raised my eyebrow and walked over to a rack and picked up a dress (Jovani style 15389) he wouldn't let me try on.

His eyebrow perked up too, "That's so…wild and crazy for you though. Are you absolutely sure?"

"At least let me try it on." I laughed.

"Go ahead." He waved towards the dressing rooms. I pulled it on and smiled grandly when I looked at myself in the mirror.

With some hesitation, I stepped out and saw his eyes widen before he looked at the floor and smiled, "I would never have thought that would look good on you, further proving I have no sense of style."

"This one gets my vote then." I smiled and twirled on the platform in front of the three mirrors.

"I'll have to go with that one as well; I guess I just need to buy a suit then." He laughed and looked down at his clothes.

I put my clothes back on and handed the dress to him on the hanger; I felt like such a 'daddy's little girl' or something having him buy it for me. I couldn't afford it right now if I'd wanted to buy it, but I hated him buying it.

"If you feel bad about this, just remember I almost killed you. You should be making me buy ten dresses." He grinned widely. I laughed and toyed with the fringe on my purse.

We headed over to a boutique for men's tuxedos and Edward looked amazing in every last one of them that he tried on, but he went for the one that I liked the best (look up at the 2009 Oscars, this was how I envisioned him looking). I didn't know if I could stand going to a show with him if he was going to wear that tux with that ridiculous grin on his face. If I wore that dress, no doubt he'd get the idea I would hope he wouldn't and we'd end up in an awkward situation.

As we headed back to the hotel room, I found my stomach doing flips even though the road was flat. That smile was plastered on his face; I almost wanted to yell at him to stop smiling because it made me nervous.

* * *

OHHH YEEEEEAH. Things are getting a liiiiittle more heated, n'est-ce pas? XD It'll get better as the chapters go on, I promise. I've promised you since the beginning, haven't I? Hehehe. Hopefully, the heatedness will make you guys want to**_ REVIEWWWWWW_**.

Come on, I'm on my (proverbial) knees begging you wonderful, BEAUTIFUL people to review! Pleeeease? : (

P.S. I know some of you are favorite-ing this story and/or myself as an author. I see that you are reading this story. **_I command you to REVIEW. NOW._**


	7. Chapter 7: Don't Want to Be Alone

**_Okay, here's the dealio folks:_** I did not want to have to do this (because I hate people that do this, but you've left me no choice), but I am a little sad and slightly miffed at the lack of reviews I'm getting from you peeps. **_I am NOT going to post the next chapter until I get at LEAST 5 reviews._** I really do like hearing from you! I love to know what you think of what I'm writing! I know this story isn't all lemony right off the bat, but was 'Twilight' that way? NO. I mean good grief, B&E didn't even kiss until halfway through the book! So, to reiterate: I love you all, but I need to hear from you if you want the next chapter. (P.S. I do accept anonymous reviews from visitors a.k.a. people who don't have an FF account).

Shout out to the one awesome person who did review: **Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos**. :]

**_DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer came up with _****_Twilight_****_ and all it's awesomeness. I came up with this plot. COME UP WITH YOUR OWN.

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_**

Chapter 7: Don't Want to Be Alone

"Let's go to see the Grand Canyon today! We've been here for two days and we haven't gone!" He announced as he turned the television off and stood up.

"Did you happen to bring a camera?" I asked and stood up as well.

"No…we can get some disposable ones at a Walgreens or something. They'll be exceptionally overpriced in the park." He nodded and went off to his room to get ready, I did the same.

Ten minutes later and I came out to see him the same as when he'd gone into his room, he just had tennis shoes on.

I laughed to myself and walked towards the door, "Do you even know how to get there from here?"

"No actually…but I'm sure we can get directions downstairs at the concierge desk." He shrugged as if it wasn't a problem.

When we got downstairs, we were both shocked to find out that the Grand Canyon was almost 3 hours away and if we'd stayed in Las Vegas, it would only have been maybe an hour away. "I told you we should've stayed." He grinned as the guy behind the desk drew on a map to direct us there.

I elected to sleep in the car on the way up so I wouldn't have to worry about talking or not talking, and awkwardly staring out of the window. He woke me up when we were about five miles away.

"Can we agree to let me pay for anything we buy in here? It's the least I can do after the room and the dress…" I looked down at the floor of the car as I spoke, making myself look less convincing.

"I don't see what all the guilt is about. Most people would take advantage of my guilt to make me buy anything they wanted…to an extent. Haven't you ever seen 'White Christmas'?" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes I have. I refuse to be Phil Davis; he used Bob's guilt way too much."

"They ended up pretty okay, don't you think?" He looked over at me and grinned.

As we pulled up to the booth to enter the park, I handed him some money and he handed it to the woman. We drove in and immediately went to buy some cameras which I paid for, "I'm going to feel like a moocher if you keep paying for everything."

"You yourself said you couldn't afford a huge trip, I'm just trying to help out as much as possible." He shrugged as I paid for five cameras.

"Let's make sure to use all of these, okay?" I laughed and handed him two.

"You get three? What if I'm the better photographer?" He unleashed a rather convincing frown that made me want to hug him.

"We'll have to wait and see who the better is when we get the pictures developed." I grinned and pointed to a space.

We should have come at sunrise or something to see the sun come up (obviously); it would have been amazingly beautiful…but it might have implied something if I suggested we do that.

He pulled out a camera and snapped the first picture, "This is truly amazing. Can you believe water did that? Absolutely incredible."

I smiled and walked up to a rail near the edge of the cliff. He walked up beside me and took a picture of me before I could get away, "That's going to be a good one. You looked very peaceful."

I groaned and pulled out my camera, "You just declared war buddy." He laughed as I took a few candid ones of him with an amazing background of the canyon.

We walked a couple hundred yards down before going back to his car and driving further. At one point we sat on a bench and watched people go by with very expensive looking cameras.

"I have a rather nice camera in my apartment…I don't know why I didn't think to bring it. Slightly foolish of me really," Edward laughed at himself and snapped a picture of me laughing.

"Stop it!" I squealed and covered my head with my arms.

"Don't tell me you're camera shy?!" He scoffed.

"A little..." I admitted sheepishly. He shook his head and walked over to another rail to take a few pictures. I sat there and took one of him taking pictures; for some reason I told myself that would be the one picture I wanted to keep for myself and not let him see it. I couldn't figure why I said that to myself but I did.

* * *

As the day went on, we came down to the last camera as the sun started to set. "I bought it, so I get to use it," I laughed.

"I bet I take better pictures than you do." He grinned and tried to take it from me.

I maneuvered away from him and ran a few steps away, "I don't care, I paid for it."

He gave me an absolutely intoxicating smile as he walked slowly towards me. I held in a laugh as I backed away at a slightly faster pace. He lengthened his strides and started catching up. I let a laugh sputter out as I turned around and started running.

Yes, I was being a little flirtatious and a slight tease, but I felt like I was just having fun with him. Maybe he would get the wrong idea; maybe he'd kiss me and make me fall in love. I told myself I didn't want another boyfriend, but the walls around my heart were starting to corrode and crumble.

I didn't hear him running up behind me as I thought to myself, so I almost screamed when his arms clamped around me, stopping me instantly, "No! It's my camera!" I laughed as he tried to pull the camera out of my hand.

"Oh come on; just let me take a few!" He pleaded as I held the camera against my stomach.

"No, you're the bigger tourist so I should take pictures with you in them. I live closer." I laughed and managed to drop out of his arms onto the ground.

"I live further east in the building than you, so technically I live closer." He laughed and kneeled down beside me.

"I thought you were just studying abroad? Do you consider yourself to be living here?" I smiled.

"I'll be here for about a year I guess…so yes, I guess I do live here." He shrugged and tried to take the camera again.

I rolled away and ran over to a rail to take a picture. I got one before he managed to reach around me and take it, "Hah, I have a better reach." I rolled my eyes as he stood behind me and took a few pictures.

"You take half and I'll take the other. We'll see who the better photographer is." I smirked.

He nodded and laughed, "Don't get your hopes up."

"Same to you." I smiled to myself; Sterling was a photographer on the side and he'd taught me how to use a camera, albeit it was always a camera with a large lens on it, not a cheap throwaway one.

We stayed until the sun had gone down all the way and then we got back in his car. He turned and looked at me with a small, but gorgeous smile, "I had fun today."

"So did I," I nodded.

"Dinner when we get back? We can just go Dutch so no one feels bad." He grinned and backed out of his space.

I nodded in agreement, "I'd rather pay for you to try and make up for some of this though."

"That's not happening so just forget it," He laughed softly and drove slowly back down the road.

"Wait, could you stop for a second? I want to take one last look." I smiled at him.

"Sure," His smile widened a bit and he put the car in park.

I stepped out and walked over to a rail; I looked up at the moon and the hundreds and thousands of stars above me, "If something is supposed to happen…so be it, but I'm going to avoid it if I can."

When I turned around, he was leaning against his car looking straight at me, "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking for a minute." I said dreamily.

He walked over to stand beside me, "It's absolutely breathtaking." I looked up at him and he was smiling at me.

My cheeks burned suddenly so I turned around and walked back to his car; I was going to try and avoid any elevated situation with him if I could. I couldn't be sure how my emotions would stand up to it if we were to suddenly embrace each other and kiss.

* * *

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both tired so we ordered some food to be brought up. We ate at a leisurely pace and watched the news for a few minutes.

I was starting to fall asleep as I sat on the couch so I stood up to go to bed.

"Wait," he grabbed my hand as I walked past him, "are you going to bed?" I nodded and rubbed my eyes.

"Did you have fun today?" He smiled even though I could tell he was more exhausted than I was.

I nodded and smiled sleepily, "Did you?"

"I had a lot of fun with you. I'm glad we did this." He grinned wider and took a few more seconds to let go of my hand.

When he let go of my hand, I made sure not to let my heart feel like it was dropping. I gave him a short smile and walked to my bedroom with my eyes on the floor.

Once I was lying in my bed, I sighed to relieve the pressure in my chest and it melted away. Being around him was killing me; my eyes wandered around my room until they fell on the dress hanging on my bathroom door.

I bit my lower lip and smiled; I hopped out of bed and put it on. When I looked at myself in the mirror I couldn't help but to smile and stand up on my toes (I needed some heels to go with them). I felt like…not a princess, not even royalty…I just felt special.

I found myself twirling around in the dress and smiling like I was five years old again. It was very fun until I heard him knock on the door, "Bella, are you in bed yet?"

Should I answer? I could stay silent and let him think I was sleeping, but what if he needed to ask me something important?

"Yes?" I called as I stuck my head out of the bathroom door.

"Oh, you are in bed?" He sounded apologetic.

"Oh, no, no I'm not." I called back.

"Oh…would you mind if I opened the door? I wanted to ask you something." He cleared his throat at the end of his sentence.

"Uh…" I couldn't get my dress off fast enough and pull my pajamas on, "hold on a minute." I fumbled my way out of the dress and managed to get my pajamas on, "Yes?" I pulled the door open and he fell in front of my feet.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I kneeled down beside him, hitting my knee a little hard on the floor.

"Yeah, I guess I shouldn't lean against doors like that, huh?" He laughed and sat up.

He looked around my room and leaned back to look towards my bathroom, "Is your dress on the floor?"

I flipped around and saw part of it sticking out of the doorway, "It must have just fallen." I walked over to get it and hung it up.

When I turned around he was giving me this odd look, "Were you wearing it when I knocked on the door?"

There wasn't really any point in lying, "Yes…I just wanted to put it on again and make sure the mirrors in the boutique weren't just making it look like it fit."

He laughed softly, "You looked wonderful in it. Don't you need some heels for it though? Otherwise you'll have to get a few inches cut off from it."

"Yeah, I'll buy them though. Don't worry about that." I warded him off before he could offer.

"Oh come in Bella, let the almost-murderer buy you a pair of shoes? Please?" He gave me this tempting, but oh so innocent smile.

I turned away from him and took a small breath, "I want to buy them Edward…"

"What if buying you these shoes will help me relieve my guilt of nearly cutting you in half?" he mused.

"You're bribing me to make yourself feel better?" I laughed.

"Sort of…" He grinned and stood up.

"If you let me buy you some shoes I promise I won't try to buy anything else for you for the rest of the time we're here." He held one hand over his heart and the other in the air.

It was my turn to grin, "Fine, if it will get you off my back."

"By the way," He commented before he shut my door to leave, "I've forgotten for the past few days, but you haven't taught me any yoga. You're going to have to catch up."

He shut the door before I could respond and it felt like he wanted to be that way. If I could have said anything I might have just said we would start from the beginning and take it slowly. Clearly he wanted me to be alone with my thoughts and feelings; he just didn't know I didn't want to be.

* * *

Snap. Crackle. AND pop. XD Hahaha, sorry, I just really like saying that! So tell me, was this too boring for you? I'm really just trying to build up some feeling and emotions between the two before anything can happen. I can't just have them jumping on each other after knowing each other for ten minutes, that's just SILLY! Btw, I was looking at my story statistics, and I see that I have the most readers from the U.S., second most from the U.K. (I'm an Anglophile, for realz yo, haha), and third most from AUS (I love your accents!!!!). I just think it's cool that people from ALL OVER THE WORLD can access my stories...it's mind-boggling.

So yes, tell me what you think of this chapter! (And remember, I need **_5 reviews or NO CHAPTER FOR YOU_**!!! And you don't want the story to end here, TRUST ME. I wrote this, I think I'd know. XD)

***ShiningStarr***


	8. Chapter 8: Only You Could

ACK! I'm so sorry I didn't post this last week! I really honestly meant to, but things kept getting in the way and I didn't want to stay up another hour to post this and be exhausted the next day for class. I know you guys will understand!

Shout out to my 5 reviewers:** Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos, sweetsurprise26, whenDAEbreaks, motherduckatschoo**l, and **Rose N Valerie** (whose review counted as five, hahaha)!!!

Thanks to all five of you wonderful people who took a minute to tell me what you thought, I appreciate it sooo much! If I can get 10 reviews for this chapter, I'll probably post faster (hint hint) I am going to have one stipulation here: 5 reviews for every chapter or I might just wait a while longer to post chapters.

Yes, I'm blackmailing you, but I love hearing from people who read my brain waves. XD

**_DISCLAIMER: If I'd written the Twilight Saga, I probably wouldn't be writing this plot on . The end._**

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Chapter 8: Only You Could

I tossed and turned all night; the evidence presented itself to me when I woke up in the morning and found myself slightly constricted. After a few minutes, I managed to figure out just how wrapped up I was, excuse the pun.

When I looked at my face in the mirror, I looked at it from quite a few angles. The longer I stared at myself, the more I wondered how people thought I was so pretty or whatever. I shook my head and walked out of the bathroom.

My eyes wandered over to a clock and it was almost eleven. I hadn't slept that late in…wait, had I ever slept this late before? I rushed into some clothes and walked out into the main room.

He was asleep on the couch with an arm behind his head and the other was across his stomach.

"Crap," I muttered to myself; he looked way too hot and if I stood there to stare at him, I was afraid of what might happen emotionally.

I walked over to the kitchen area and put some water to boil. It took the whistling kettle to bring me out of my thoughts. I poured some water into a cup and let a tea bag drop into it.

His arm would surely be numb if it'd been behind his head for too long; I tiptoed over to him and tried to decide whether or not to pull his arm down. If I didn't, he would…so why should I? Because I just wanted to touch him.

That decided for me, if I just wanted to help him to touch him, I wasn't going to help. What if he woke up while I was moving his arm? What if I didn't let go of his arm once I'd moved it?

As I stared at him, he stirred and turned on his side facing the television. My heart had sped up from the surprise of him moving. I really shouldn't have let him play me like that to get me to come on this trip with him.

Sterling had probably called me fifty times and banged on my door at least twice. He was probably raving mad at me for ignoring him…or thinking I was ignoring him.

Then it hit me: if I was with Sterling, I wouldn't have to worry about anything happening with Edward. I could go to counseling and tell Edward my ex and I were patching things up; we were still in love. I couldn't help but to wonder if he'd believe me.

It sounded like a plan until I imagined going through with it. Thinking about going to a counselor with Sterling almost made my stomach churn. Now it felt like being with him was nearly repulsive; he rejected me on a stupid fear without talking to me and he still wasn't ready for the commitment I wanted.

Another thought came to mind: since I wanted a marital commitment from Sterling, did that mean I would want one with Edward if we ever…or maybe I just wanted a big commitment from Sterling now to scare him off so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

My head was swirling in thoughts so I picked up my tea and sat down at the table. While the tea bag continued to steep in the water, I looked over at him on the couch.

His shirt had fallen away from his hip, revealing some skin. I had the vision of him with his shirt halfway on when he ran out into the kitchen in his apartment. The thought made a pleasant chill run down from my neck.

"Mm…Bella…"

My head snapped up in response to his voice. His eyes were still shut and he was motionless on the couch. He said my name in his sleep?

I told myself he was just dreaming about me in the dress…but I discovered that only worsened my thoughts. Maybe he was having a conversation with me in his dream?

He exhaled loudly and sat up after a moment, "D*mn…" He noticed his arm was numb so he moved it around. My foot bumped the table and his head snapped over in my direction, "Oh-Bella-I uh…I didn't see you over there." His face turned red so he stood up and looked away from me.

"I'm pretty stealthy at times." I grinned.

"I guess I fell asleep on the couch last night…hm." He stretched out and walked to his room.

My assumption was that he went to his room to change, but he came out with his hair brushed and had the same clothes on. Not that I really cared about it…but he looked good.

"So…shoe shopping today?" He smiled as he came over to the table.

"I still don't feel right about having you buy shoes for me." I grumbled.

"Do I need to remind you of the near fatal accident in the parking garage?" He laughed and walked over to the refrigerator.

"This is really backwards how you're using that against me." I gave him a look which he didn't see.

"I just find it funny…it should be the other way around you know." He grinned and poured some orange juice into glass.

"It should, but I can't find it within me to hold that over your head." I shrugged.

He stared at the drink in his glass after I spoke, "Let's just say I feel bad and obligated to make it up to you."

"It was partially my fault…I shouldn't be standing in a parking garage like that, especially if I can't see a car approaching me." I shrugged.

"Don't try to sneak your way out of me buying some shoes for you." He laughed and chugged the orange juice.

Watching the Adam's apple in his throat move like that gave me an urge to kiss his neck. I tore my eyes away from him and rubbed them a little harshly with my hands.

"So, when would you like to go? It's past eleven." He set the glass on the counter and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.

"Whenever you're ready I suppose. We might want to get something to eat before we look for shoes." I suggested.

"Good idea." He nodded and walked back to his room.

He came back out with shoes on, a beanie, some sunglasses in his hand, and a pair of keys in the other. I walked over to the door and pulled my shoes on; he stopped me as I opened the door, "Do you need a picture of your dress to match the shoes with?"

I found it difficult to answer since he had stopped me by pulling me around at the waist, "Um…I think…I…got it."

"Are you sure? I'll take a picture with my phone just in case." He walked over to my room and pulled his phone out of his front pocket.

The answer to a few of my problems had been in his pocket; I hadn't thought to ask him if he had a phone. In fact, why didn't I use the phone in the room in Las Vegas? My brain couldn't function normally around him.

He came back out after a moment and smiled at me as he opened the door, "All aboard." I gave him a soft smile and walked in front of him out to his car.

* * *

We went to a mall and there was almost no one there, I liked it that way. We went into some department stores and I found some potential matches, but there were some shoe stores through the mall. The second store we went into, I found a pair of regular heels that matched the bright blue flecks on the dress.

Yes, it was a pretty wild look for what I usually wore, but I was drawn to the dress and now to the shoes. When I checked the price, they were half off and were only thirty five dollars.

He looked at the price and sighed, "You would pick the most inexpensive shoes you could find."

"You said yourself I have better taste in fashion and that I had the final deciding vote." I shrugged impishly.

"I think you need a purse." He grinned as he bought the shoes.

"You're not buying me a purse Edward," I huffed as we walked down the mall; he was carrying the bag against my will.

"Yes you do; something gold I should think." He widened his eyes at me for a moment and grinned.

"If we're going to some show, I won't need to be carrying anything because you'll have the tickets." I huffed.

"You'll need something to carry around lipstick and your phone, won't you?" He laughed and led me into some expensive purse store.

* * *

When we got back to the hotel, he'd ended up buying me the shoes, a purse, some dark red lipstick (my choice actually), a beaded wooden necklace with earrings that went along with them, and some ice cream.

"Has your guilt subsided yet?" I looked over at him as we sat on the couch watching the weather channel.

"Only a little. I have to find a really special show to take you to once we're back in California." He seemed to be in thought.

"I thought we were seeing a show here?" The thought of someone seeing me all dressed up scared the daylights out of me.

"They don't have anything good playing here. In California, however, there are a multitude of shows to see." He grinned and ate the rest of his cone.

After a little while of not talking I spoke up again, "So…we saw the Grand Canyon, what else is there to do in Arizona?"

"I don't know…I'll have to call the concierge desk and ask later. I'm a little tired from walking around in the mall…might doze off for a few minutes." He laughed and messed his hair up with his hands.

"Same. I'm going to go to my bed though. I don't think there's enough room for both of us on the couch," I joked and stood up.

As I walked past him he spoke up, "Do you like being alone in your room?"

"What?" I turned around, a little confused by his question.

"You like to be by yourself or in your room a lot. I'm not bothering you, am I?" He sounded hurt.

"No, no, you're not bothering me. I'm just…an introvert. I guess living by myself has made me somewhat of a hermit." I smiled; he laughed at my horrible joke.

"I can understand that, I'm the same way. I just don't want you to spend all of your time alone in your room. Road trips and spontaneous vacations are meant to be spent with the person you're traveling with." He grinned widely.

I wanted to say something back but I couldn't think of anything, so I just walked over to my room.

"If you get lonely I'll be in my room." He waved to me as I shut my door.

My cheeks burned so I put my hands against them to cool them down, "Why does he have to say stuff like that? Did he realize the innuendo he put in that statement?" I huffed and paced erratically around my room for a good ten minutes.

As I slowed my pacing, my mind was over in his room. What would he do if I went into his room? Did he think if I went into his room, it would be confirming my suspicions that I thought that he thought I liked him? If I didn't go in, I'd assume that he'd assume I realized what he meant and would be sad about it; what if he just offered to hang out in his room because he was more comfortable there? What if he wanted me to be comfortable in his room with him?

An aggravated moan grumbled in my throat, this wasn't a good situation. Obviously, I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon and I didn't know if he'd be asleep or not. This would be a good time to clear up any confusion I theorized he had.

Before I knew it, I was knocking very softly on his door in case he'd fallen asleep. He didn't answer so I opened the door; he had a plaid shirt on, unbuttoned, to showcase his chest and the sheets were just below his waist.

My heart was pounding; could I keep convincing myself he meant nothing to me? The longer I stood there, the harder it felt to breathe. I was leaning towards the doorframe, so I put my hand up to level myself. My hand hit the door a little hard and he started to wake up.

His movements were so enticing; I couldn't make myself move to get away from the sight of him. He rolled over and sighed.

"…Edward?" I didn't know what possessed me to speak, but something did.

His eyes popped open and his pushed himself up onto his forearms, "Hey Bella, did you get tired of being by yourself over there?"

"Um…I guess I just couldn't sleep. The ice cream was cold and it's giving me a bit of a sugar rush." I lied.

He nodded and went along with it, "Have a seat." He moved to his left and patted the right side of the bed.

"Um…well I didn't mean to wake you…I knocked and you didn't answer…so I opened the door to call and see if you were awake." I took a half-step backwards.

"I'm awake now. You might as well come in." He smiled a beautiful smile; I couldn't remember a word to disincline the invitation.

As I walked over to his bed, he sat up against his head board and buttoned the third button down on his shirt; my pitiful heart cried out in protest.

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Ohhhh myyyy, haha. Things is heatin' up in hurr, dontcha think? XD Again, more sexual tension building. I know it's torture, but apparently...I just have a knack for writing mentally torturous chapter endings or mentally torturous chapters in general. HAHA.

Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter, and remember: 5 reviews is the minimum I need. 10 reviews gets you a chapter faster. WOOHOO!

***ShiningStarr***

[p.s. I have a Twitter account now if you want to take a further look into my life, haha. /meggiemonstre]


	9. Chapter 9: Control

YAYYY for everyone who reviewed! I LOVE YOU ALL! You're amazing, all of you!

Shout out to: Twilightaddict, **motherduckatschool**, _**CullenFreak93**_, _whenDAEbreaks_, **Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos**,_ Rose N Valerie_, and samra !

And okay, I know that **one of you **mentioned being a little aggravated that nothing has "happened" yet (I'm so evil) and I'm sorry about that, but, as I've said before, I like to build up the tension. I'm still building on that tension here. XD I promise, something will happen very soon.

(P.S. I'm still blackmailing you guys. 5 reviews or no new chapter this week. Mwahahahahahaaaaaa....)

**_DISCLAIMER: All of that VVV down there, is MY plot. Everything in the Twilight Saga is not mine. : ( So go write your own plot._**

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Chapter 9: Control

Once I was seated on his bed, I could feel my body temperature rising. My breath felt shallow and my lungs felt tighter.

"So, have you been enjoying yourself so far? I do so hope you have," He laughed and made his toes crack.

"Uh…yeah." My voice sounded too timid and shy, "Other than you guilting me into letting you buy things for me, the trip has been just peachy."

He grinned at my response, "I've been having a marvelous time, personally. I've been stuck on the West Coast since I arrived in this country so it's nice to be off of it."

"Wow, that sucks." I forced some confidence back into my voice.

"You bet it does…when you told me you had some time off, I just had to go somewhere with you. I know how I feel about seeing new things as someone from another country, but I wanted to know how _you_ felt about these kinds of things." He gave me a large smirk.

"It's wonderful to see sights like the Grand Canyon, especially when you know you've seen them already and can't remember it. It's nice to be away from home; I feel so bogged down in California. I want to move away to somewhere less…populated." I laughed at the end of my sentence.

"You don't like California?" He seemed shocked.

"I do…I'm just bored with it. Once you're here for a while, the Hollywood magic dies out. Every time I've ever been anywhere and people find out I live around Hollywood, I just get asked if I've ever seen or met anyone famous. It's really annoying." I huffed.

His laughter rang in my ears, "You're a very interesting woman, did you know that?"

"So I've been told. Also, hard to figure out." I shrugged.

"On the contrary for me, I don't find you that difficult to predict." He mused.

"Oh…really?" I was suddenly shy again.

"Yes…and I sort of have a question I wish I could ask you, but you probably wouldn't like it if I did." He shrugged it off.

I wondered what he wanted to ask me, but if he thought I wouldn't like it…I probably wouldn't. "I almost want to tell you to go ahead and ask me, but I'll trust your judgment." I laughed nervously.

"Now I really want to ask you though!" He laughed.

"Go ahead and ask then." I permitted.

"All right then…well…" he grinned to himself for a moment, "_have_ you met anyone famous?"

I gave him a dull glare and grumbled to myself, "I met Heath Ledger once… he was really nice. I've seen Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Britney Spears, and Mischa Barton."

"Wow, why would you tire of telling people that?" He grinned.

"Because it's all people care about…they just want to know what it's like to be around famous people. Half the time you might not even know they're there." I huffed and leaned against his headboard.

A large grin spread across his face, "You're so funny when you're pouting like that. You act a little bit like a five year old."

I scoffed, "Well when you're annoyed about something it's occasionally hard to act your age."

He laughed softly, "I know what you mean. Sorry to have asked that, I was just curious who you had met."

"Don't worry about it; I just thought you were being facetious when I realized what you'd asked." I smirked.

He moved down on the bed until he was lying down and his shirt wasn't covering that much of his upper body, "You still need to teach me some new yoga poses."

I laughed, "I forgot about that. Do you want to sleep or yoga?"

"I don't think 'yoga' is a verb Bella," He burst out laughing at that.

"It's weird to say 'do yoga' so sometimes I just say 'yoga'." I shrugged.

"Nevertheless…I think I should like to 'yoga'." He grinned and stretched his arms upward.

"I'll go get my mat; meet me in the middle." I hopped off his bed and walked over to my room.

* * *

Once I'd rolled out the mat, he came out of his room with his shirt still unbuttoned; was he trying to send me a message or something?

"Do you remember the three poses I showed you already?" I asked softly as he stepped onto the mat.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Let's do those then, we'll practice the deep breathing first." I stood in position and closed my eyes.

His breathing was louder than mine; as we both deep breathed, images were flashing through my head and I willed them to stop. After half a minute, I opened my eyes and cleared my throat; he opened his eyes and smiled, "That's still very relaxing."

"I know. All right so the next pose is-"

"Warrior Pose, I remember." He grinned.

He was better at it on his second time around; I was sort of impressed. I stretched a bit longer today and felt my muscles trying to contract. After stretching both sides, I did a sort of grand-plié then straightened my legs with my hands flat on the ground.

"My god, you can put your hands on the ground?" He sounded thoroughly impressed.

"Oh…yeah." I laughed and looked up at him.

"It doesn't hurt?" He tried to copy me but his fingers were almost three inches from the ground.

"Nope. It feels nice actually; it warms up your muscles." I grinned and slowly rolled up.

Last was the Half-Moon pose and he had less trouble with it than before, but showed improvement.

"I don't think I'm doing that one right…I'm supposed to be stretching my side but I find myself holding my body up with the side I'm leaning towards." He huffed.

"You sort of have to push your torso in the opposite direction you're leaning, try it again." I watched him lean over, my eyes went to his stomach, "Don't lean so far over, just lean your upper body over and stretch out your side."

He wasn't quite getting it, but I didn't want to have to touch him so I tried to show him what to do by doing it to myself. "Can you just come over here and make me do that?" He laughed.

"Sure…" I walked behind him and put my hand on his right side; I pushed against him until he was standing straight up. My left hand went to his shoulder, "Don't resist or I'll have to push harder." He laughed and bent as my hands led him to.

"Oh! That's what it supposed to feel like. All right, that feels great!" He laughed and held it for a minute or so. He went to the other side and sighed in relief.

As he held that pose, I pulled my foot up and stretched up into the Dancer's Pose. I closed my eyes and therefore couldn't see when he'd stopped stretching and looked at me, "What in the world, how are you doing that? Your foot is almost a foot above your head!" My eyes snapped open and I let my foot drop; so it had been that high? I could never tell.

"Oh…sorry, I was doing another pose while you did that one…it's called the Dancer's Pose. It's more advanced yoga…it takes good balance." I nodded.

"I don't know if I could ever do that." He grinned.

I showed him how to do the Palm Tree Pose and the Rising Sun Pose. He seemed enthused with this and it made me laugh when I saw how off-balance he was. I was much the same way when I first started. On several occasions I fell over onto the floor and had an entire class laugh at me.

He started up some green tea while I proceeded with some other poses he guffawed at. When the kettle started whistling, I rolled my head around and walked over to the table.

"You're absolutely incredible at yoga. How long have you been at this?" He handed me my mug.

"Two or three years now I think. It keeps me together," I smiled and breathed in the smell.

"That's amazing." He shook his head and smiled.

* * *

Later in the day, we decided to drive to Sedona for some scenery-seeing. We had to buy more cameras, but as we drove a lot more than we stopped, I took more of the pictures. We stopped along the highway at one point and leaned against his car just to watch the landscape.

"Absolutely gorgeous." He sighed.

"I know…it's amazing to think that something so incredible as this exists and I live in stupid, busy Hollywood." I shook my head.

"I bet the people here are used to seeing this. They'd probably think where you live is incredible." He mused.

"I guess…I wish we could all be happy where we lived…I just think I'd be happier living somewhere else. I just don't want to leave all of my friends," I laughed and wondered if they had or were calling me wondering where I was.

"I left my friends at home…I have some, but not very many. I guess doing whatever I want doesn't make for a steady routine to meet people or keep up with them. So far, you're the person I know best while I've been over here." He grinned at me.

This new information made me nervous; no wonder he wanted to spend so much time with me. I was his only real and true friend…perhaps all those signals were my imagination and he was just being himself. Maybe he did just consider me a very good friend; that would make perfect sense.

We stared out at the perfect miles of view before us for a little while until he stepped in front of me, very close in front of me, "I'm almost glad I nearly killed you. It's given me an excuse to be around you so much."

Oh no…was he getting in a speech I think he was?

"If I hadn't seen you again after that one day…I think I might have gone mad wanting to see you again Isabella." He gave me a small smile.

"Oh…um…that's sweet of you to say." I laughed nervously as I tried to side step away from him; he followed my movement.

"I was overjoyed when you agreed to come on this trip with me…I really was. The notion of spending so much time with you had me shaking in anticipation." He looked down and back up at me.

"Edward, look, I-"

"You've been doing everything you could to avoid being this close to me and touching me."

"That's not true, I just-" I knew what he was getting at now; there was no secret.

"I was being difficult with that one pose earlier so you'd have to touch me; I go absolutely crazy when your skin touches mine Bella. And I think you feel rather the same when it happens." He was staring straight into my eyes but I was determined to stare at the dirt beside me.

"I've tried to show you I liked you but you always resisted any notion to show any emotion back; it's so frustrating because I can see it in your eyes that you feel something towards me." He pulled my head up so I was looking in his eyes.

"No, I just…you're just a friend and…" I couldn't really process my thoughts into words so I just stuttered and stumbled my way through a sentence.

His hands were on my back and pulled me slowly against his chest, "Look at me and tell me you don't feel something towards me."

Everything about him was trying to tear down my carefully built walls; everything about the moment was begging me to just accept him. I had the intense urge to kiss him and not stop for a very long time, but I held that back by biting the inside of my lips.

"Tell me please…" He pushed his hands firmer into my back, nearly making me let out a whimper.

My head was spinning so fast it was almost dizzying. There was a storm building up and building up in my mind until it felt like I'd die of mental overexertion.

He pushed me back against his car and I stopped thinking; I looked into his eyes and merely let out a laugh. He laughed and was suddenly leaning down towards me; my hands shot up to his head and pulled him down faster.

Oh how my walls came tumbling down upon that contact; I felt a monsoon of emotions whirling through me more chaotic than any disaster ever seen. I pulled him as close as I could and felt every nerve in my body alive with electricity.

As my lips begged for more, he seemed to be able to give my desires what they needed. I was moaning and didn't realize it until he let one loose.

After that intoxicating noise he made, his lips withdrew and I cried out in disappointment.

"Let's go get some dinner, shall we?" He grinned with full charm.

I think I would have melted if it were physically possible, "Only if I can pay." He rolled his eyes, "Let me take care of you for tonight, okay?"

Some part of my brain that was still lucid and logical told me to tell him I was going to pay, so I shut it up and locked it back where it belonged. I had been wasting my time avoiding him for so long, even if it was only a week.

* * *

YAYYYYYYYY for kissing! hahahaha. Are you guys happy now?! I know it was oh-so painful to wait for that, but it was worth it. Plus, didn't this let loose a bigger flood of emotion than if I'd had them making out in chapter 2 or 3? XD

This was also fitting to post on Valentine's Day, don't you think? I didn't even plan this, I promise. I thought that this kiss was in chapter 10 so...yeah, haha. I really didn't plan these two events to coincide.

Anyways,**_ REVIEWWWWW_** my lovely fictioneers (mousketeers, haha)!!!

***ShiningStarr***

(A/N: the line "more chaotic than any disaster ever seen" is NOT a reference to Haiti. This chapter was written probably 3 or 4 months ago.)


	10. Chapter 10: Little Miss Obsessive

**1st on the Agenda**: I apologize profusely for not updating for almost two weeks (or has it been two weeks already?!?)!!! I have been bogged down with classes and work (ugh) and I knew I needed to update! I haven't forgotten you all!!!!

**2nd on the Agenda**: Sorry for not responding to any of the reviews sent in to me! Again, I just haven't had a lot of time or energy for the past two weeks. XP

**3rd on the Agenda**: For everyone that reviewed, you know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Just don't forget the blackmail deal we have. Hehehehe.

**4th on the Agenda**: _**DISCLAIMER: This plot is mine in its entirety. The Twilight Saga, or any of the characters, belong to Mrs. Meyers in its (and their) entirety. MMKAY?!?

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Chapter 10: Little Miss Obsessive

Dinner seemed pretty normal between us; we didn't hold hands over the table or anything, we just smiled a lot. He wanted to know more about me and my life, I only answered on the condition he tell me more about himself; he willingly obliged.

"I was an only child so I got all of the attention from my parents…it was annoying a lot actually." I grinned.

"Same here. My parents were so proud to have a son. Some days it was all I could do to try not to make them angry at me…it didn't take much effort for me to make that happen surprisingly." He laughed softly and sipped on his soda.

"My parents were very accepting of what I wanted to do with my life. I was a pretty good daughter so I was hardly ever punished. High school was fun but I wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school." I smiled to myself.

"I daresay I was only popular because of my looks. I'm surprised you weren't hounded after." He let loose a wide grin to which I laughed.

"Well, I dated a few guys but what can you expect out of a high school relationship? So few people find their true love in high school. Honestly I don't see how anyone does; your brain isn't even fully developed then." I scoffed.

He just laughed and laughed, "You're so funny, I don't even think you mean to be… but I find you to be so comical sometimes."

I shrugged, "My parents have wicked senses of humor…I guess I inherited it but I didn't notice."

"I'm ashamed to say I'm not that funny. I can get in a joke now and then, but not like you." He smiled and ate some of his sandwich.

"You probably just think I'm funny because you…you like me." I blushed a little bit.

"Maybe…you are also just an amazing person who happens to be good at making a joke." He propped his chin up on his hand.

* * *

After some quiet, but intense debating, I paid for dinner. "I told you I'd take care of you tonight. You're making me feel like less of a man." He pouted.

I rolled my eyes, "If you can afford a room at the Venetian, you shouldn't feel less of anything." He laughed and it made me smile.

* * *

On the way back to Phoenix, he kept looking at me and I had to constantly tell him to look at the road, "I'm sorry, you just look beautiful in the moon's light." I leaned my elbow against the door and looked out the window to blush.

Once we'd arrived back at the hotel, he kicked his shoes off, "I think I'm going to go take a shower. My hair feels a bit greasy."

I nodded, "All right. I'll be out here watching something."

He walked back to his room without another word, which I thought was weird for some reason. After that display of passion for me on the side of the road, you'd think he'd at least wink at me or something as he went to his room. I told myself I was being an idiot, maybe he was just seeing how I'd react.

He could be lying about not knowing anyone; a guy as gorgeous as him had to know at least a few women. He could be playing me right now; he'd take me on a trip and get what he wanted, but when we got back he'd ignore me. Suddenly I was frowning and unhappy as I flipped through the channels.

As I finally settled on Top Gun on a channel, I began to relax and chill out. Sure I still had the lingering thought I was being played, but he seemed so honest with me.

Halfway through the movie I heard his door open, but he didn't say anything, so neither did I. He walked up to the couch and stood behind it, "What are you watching?"

"Top Gun with Tom Cruise." I responded casually.

"I've heard about this, one of the classic American movies, isn't it?" He came around the couch and I almost started choking when I saw he was standing beside me in a towel.

My eyes diverted to the screen as he sat down; was he really that comfortable being in a towel around me? I would never do that.

"You're not going to comment on my choice of wardrobe?" He laughed softly. I glanced over at him without talking. "Or lack thereof," He grinned and leaned towards me. I leaned forward to act like I was interested in the movie.

His hand touched my lower back and slowly pushed up towards my neck. I felt chills run down my entire back when his hand was halfway up my back. "Isn't there a famous scene in this movie where you only see the outline of two people when they're in their bed together?" He had leaned up and was whispering in my ear.

Suddenly, I felt slightly intoxicated and I shivered when his breath hit my ear, "Um…yes I think so."

"Do you think it was more romantic for them with the lighting so dim?" His hand was on the side of my neck, which I'd stretched out involuntarily.

"I…I don't know…I never thought about it." I managed to speak.

"I think those two have a similar story to ours…he sees a beautiful woman who keeps resisting him…she makes every attempt to ignore and stay away from him but eventually she can't stay away," He had me hanging on literally every word that came from his beautiful lips.

"Are you going to keep trying to stay away from me?" He placed a small kiss under my ear and I thought my heart was going to implode.

"I just…I'm…being careful." I knew my body was there, but it was very hard to feel it.

"Careful of what? Do you think I'm going to do something to you?" He seemed slightly astounded.

His spell was broken and I blinked as if realizing I could move and think, "Edward, it's just that…what happened was so sudden and-"

"Intense?"

"-and I just…I'm sorry, but I'm just paranoid about this…how do I know you're not lying to me about not knowing anyone else as well as you know me? Like you said, you were popular in school because of your looks!"

"And you think I'm popular with women now?" He asked inquiringly. I nodded sheepishly. "You've seen the way I dress in public haven't you?" He laughed, "Women in Hollywood avoid me if anything. I've had the occasional stare for having a 'grunge' look but I don't have hundreds of numbers of women in my cell phone. You can check it if you want to."

I sighed, "I'm sorry…I'm just not that great at relationships I suppose."

"Don't patronize yourself Bella," He cooed and pulled me into a side hug.

"Well my last relationship didn't work out and I thought he was the guy for me." I huffed and let my head drop onto his shoulder.

"If it didn't work out, it was _because_ he wasn't the guy for you." He replied reassuringly; if only he knew that 'the guy' was trying to work it back out.

If Sterling found out where I'd been and who I'd been with for the last two weeks, I was pretty certain he wouldn't want to work it out. I was almost happy about that.

I lifted my head and looked up at him. He smiled and kissed me; my eyes remained open for a moment but they closed when his hand squeezed my leg.

"You know…this is very strange…but I've never really felt such an intense urge to be with a woman. I mean…I've dated a few too but…I've never wanted someone so badly." He laughed quietly.

"I know what you mean…" So we'd confessed we weren't white as snow and we were both okay with it, that was a good first step.

"Is it too forward if I tell you I want to get you back into my bed right now?" He kissed me again.

I smiled and tilted my head down, "A little. I'd like nothing more for you to get me back there too…"

"Then why not?" He groaned affectionately.

"I need more of a relationship with a person before we delve into such deep matters." I smiled at him.

"That smile again, oh my god. How do you do that?" He grumbled.

"What smile? Do what?" I really didn't know what he meant.

"You have that smile you just did that makes me want to do anything you want me to do. You make me feel powerless…it's slightly disconcerting." He smiled at me.

"_You're_ one to talk," I laughed.

"What do you mean?" He scoffed.

"Oh, all of those smiles you gave me when you were convincing me to come on this trip with you. You have several smiles I absolutely adore." I traced his lips with my finger.

He shut his eyes and smiled, "I wasn't aware I had that power over you."

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you." I laughed.

"Most likely if I ever try to smile seductively at you again I'll look like an idiot." He burst out laughing and leaned back against the couch.

I leaned back beside him and brought my legs up onto the couch; I just stared up at him and grinned, "Were you trying to seduce me with this towel?"

"I was hoping you'd notice what the towel wasn't covering actually…I was going to seduce you with my body." He gave me a cheesy stare and I giggled.

"Let me go change really quick, I'm starting to feel chilled." He grinned and hopped up to walk back to his room.

He came back out in a pair of baggy jeans with a shirt in his hand, "I wanted to know if you'd prefer me to wear a shirt or not."

I rolled my eyes, "Put it on so you don't get cold."

"If I get cold then I'll hold you close." He smiled very cheekily.

"Don't push your luck." I gave him a mini-glare.

After we started watching the movie, he did put his shirt on; however, when 'that famous scene' came on the screen, I think both of us felt tense. We both restrained ourselves from acting too rashly…we did end up kissing though.

"Your lips are so strong," I grinned once he'd leaned far enough away for me to talk.

"Yours are so soft and warm…I wish mine felt like that." He winked at me.

"Chapstick helps you know." I offered.

"If I keep kissing you maybe I won't have to get my own." He raised his eyebrows at me before attacking my lips again.

At the end of the movie, I was lying in front of him with his arm securely around my stomach. "If I sound like a creep tell me, but I want you in my room tonight." He kissed the back of my neck.

"Edward I already told you I-"

"I wasn't trying to imply anything sexual…I actually just want to sleep in the same bed as you. Holding you is so calming and exciting at the same time." He smiled against my neck.

"You can wear one of my shirts, I think it'll be long enough for you," He looked down where my legs were.

"I'll wear my own pajamas, but thank you for the offer. You're so incredibly sweet you know." I sighed happily.

"Wait, does this mean you'll stay in my room?" He leaned up and over me.

"I…It'd be better if I didn't…but…having you hold me is very wonderful." I smiled.

It was getting later into the evening so I told him I'd meet him in his room later. He gave me a long kiss before letting me get up. "You act like you're not going to see me for a long time." I grinned.

"Being away from you for any length of time is too long." He smiled happily and watched me walk back into my room.

After I got back into my room, I decided to call my three girls to let them know I wasn't missing; believe me, they were probably considering calling the cops at this point.

None of them picked up which surprised me, then again it was nearly eleven on Tuesday evening; I forgot they'd probably be sleeping. I just left each of them a message saying I was using some vacation time to get out and be with myself for a couple weeks, they'd understand. My original intent of using two vacation weeks was to concentrate on myself; so far most of my thoughts were about the man in the room across the living room from mine.

I walked over to his door and knocked, he opened the door and kissed my cheek, "Good evening beautiful."

I blushed while I giggled, "You've already got me in your room, there's no need for that."

"I know, I just think you are beautiful." He shrugged and led me over to his bed.

As soon as we were both under the covers, he turned towards me and pulled me against his stomach, "We still have a week left you know…we could travel somewhere else if you wanted to."

I smiled, "I would like to see the infamous Four Corners."

"So would I. Let's go tomorrow, shall we?" He sounded overjoyed.

"Sure…but why do you sound so happy about it?" I laughed adoringly.

"Because doing anything with you is by far the best time I'll ever have." He sighed, sounding content.

Sometime during the night, he'd rolled onto his back and I was using his upper body as a pillow. When I woke up, his arms were still around me with a hand on the crease of my hip; I blushed but didn't budge. The moment was so perfect.

* * *

Ahhhhhhhh, more tension mounting. Can you feel it? XD P.S. Have you guys been watching the Winter Olympics? So many awesome athletes there! Although...I don't really consider Curling a sport, but apparently the Olympic Committee does so I won't argue. HAHA.

Anyways, story!!! You guys still liking the story so far? If I can get 10 reviews in the next...three days, I'll post the next chapter on Wednesday. That okay with you peeps?

Oh yeah, can I get Apolo Ohno's phone number? Anyone have it? I want to give that guy a call and ask him out on a datttte. HAHAHA. Dude is smokin'.

P.S.S. What do you imagine Sterling to look like? I don't think I ever give a physical description of him in the story so I was wondering whom you were envisioning. XD

***ShiningStarr***


	11. Chapter 11: Romantic Utopia

"WAHHHHH SHININGSTARRRRRRR!!! WHYYYY DIDN'T YOU UPDATE LAST WEEK?!??!?!"

Yes, I realize this is probably what some of you are thinking...possibly even saying out loud. And if you cried, I extend a personal apology to you.

Answer: I didn't update because I only got 4 reviews. : ( Me not happy. I do appreciate the people who CONTINUOUSLY review my stories. Those lovely fictioneers make my fanfiction world go round! (sweetsurprise26, motherduckatschool, Rose N Valerie, and Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos)

(P.S. Rose N Valerie, this Sterling Knight character is trés cute. haha!)

When I don't get 5 reviews, I won't update that week. Maybe you think it's mean of me to say, but it's all I'm asking for. Is it THAT much extra effort to hit that "Review" button and type in "I (insert adjective) your story! I think it was (insert adjective)!!! Love (insert your name)."

Anyways, as always, _**THIS IS MY ORIGINAL PLOT. STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL TWILIGHT RELATED CHARACTERS...I don't. *tear***_

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Chapter 11: Romantic Utopia

I'd fallen back asleep, but when I woke up again he wasn't in the bed. I sighed and decided to lay there for a few more minutes; the bed was so warm and comforting.

As I felt I was about to fall asleep again, I heard him walk into the room. It felt like a dream, but he came over to the bed and kneeled over me, "Bella, are you awake yet?"

I sighed sleepily and turned my head over.

"Isabella…" He cooed and kissed my exposed collar bone. Chills ran down my back onto my legs.

"Bella, wake up sweetheart." You could hear the smile in his voice. I shut my eyes harder and rolled onto my side; he laughed and pulled my shirt down over my shoulder, which he began to kiss.

"If you don't wake up, I'm going to have to keep kissing you." He was laughing as he spoke. I tried not to smile, but he saw it, "You little bugger, wake up!"

He pushed his hands up on my sides and I squealed, "No!!!" He burst out laughing and pulled me up into a hug.

He'd pulled me up and rolled me over himself and then back onto the bed on his side, "Do you know what time it is?"

"No, but would you be so kind as to tell me?" I laughed and put my arms around his neck.

"It's almost twelve sweetheart, are you planning on sleeping all day?" He smiled and started kissing my neck.

"It's that late? I've never slept that late in my life," I huffed and let my arms fall back onto the bed.

His hands pushed my arms above my head and he started kissing my neck. "Edward, come on!" I giggled and tried to get off the bed.

He held my legs on the bed by putting his on the outside of mine, "Lay still and it'll be over slower." I grinned at him and stopped moving. His eyebrow rose slightly and a beautiful smile ran across his lips.

"There's one of those smiles I'm talking about." I laughed softly.

"Really now? I'll have to try and remember that." He let go of my arms and got up.

"Hey!" I cried, "I didn't say you could get up!"

"You weren't in a position to tell me that." He laughed and pulled some socks on. "Hurry up and get ready, if we're going to do any traveling today, we need to get going pretty soon."

"Oh fine…" I huffed and dragged my feet across the floor.

When I'd reached the door, he flipped me around and pushed me up against the door in a mind-numbing kiss. I felt blind for a few moments and couldn't tell if my eyes were open or not. He continued kissing me and pushed against me. My hands were strung up in his hair, which felt silky smooth.

I didn't know how much time went by, but when he stopped kissing me, my blood was racing through my veins and he was grinning like an idiot, "Don't frown like that, it makes me sad."

"All of that was for a frown?" I smiled rather girlishly and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Now you're giving me that smile that renders me powerless." He sighed and placed his hands on my upper back.

"Does that mean we can have another delay?" I stood up on my toes to be a little closer to his lips.

He groaned quietly and hugged me close, "Like I said…your smile gives you control over me…So I guess if you wanted to, I couldn't say no."

"You want to get going though, don't you?" I laughed.

"I want to do what you want to do." He frowned and sighed.

"Oh, if I can't pout, you can't!" I cried and hugged him back.

He just laughed and squeezed me, "Go get ready and meet me in the middle in twenty minutes, is that enough?"

"More than enough." I chuckled and slid out the door.

I took a shower without washing my hair and changed my clothes after that. I pulled half of my hair up and put on a bit of mascara; I wanted to try and look a little prettier for him…he'd tell me I looked fine in my natural state. I laughed to myself as I pulled on a forest green tank top and some black gaucho pants. When I came out into the middle room, he was sitting on the couch. I waited for him to notice me and he did, quickly.

His eyes lit up and he immediately stood up, "Oh you've got to stop doing that."

"Doing what?!" I scoffed; I hadn't been smiling…had I?

"You look so beautiful in anything you wear." He laughed and walked over to me.

"I have to wear_ something_!" I hugged him as he approached me.

"Not when we're by ourselves." He laughed as I smacked his head.

* * *

Once we were in the car with our map, he turned towards me and motioned for me to come closer. I smiled and leaned in thinking he wanted to whisper something in my ear. He grabbed my chin and turned it to kiss me, "Can we just keep traveling like this? I don't want to go back home and not be able to spend this much time with you."

I blushed but he wouldn't let go of my chin, "I wish we could too…but I have a life back there and a job… unfortunately." He sighed and let his head fall onto my shoulder.

I coaxed him into finally starting the car and he lightened up a bit once he had. "I'm sorry about that…my thoughts are just so consumed with you…this has been the best week of my life."

I smiled, "I'd have to say the same. Most of my thoughts have been about you since we met." He laughed adoringly and grabbed my hand to kiss it.

"You're making it very hard to focus on driving." He laughed loudly and held my hand against his cheek.

"Would you rather me drive? I haven't driven since we started on this trip." I grinned and squeezed his hand.

"No, I do actually like driving. It takes some getting used to though…it's the complete opposite from London you know." He kept smiling at me.

"Yeah…I think I'd have a hard time suddenly switching to driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road." I shook my head, it was a little mind-boggling.

"You probably wouldn't like living in London either…rainy all the time and just as crowded as California." He shrugged.

"I'm sure I'd like it if you showed it to me." I stretched out my back and he took notice of it.

* * *

After a couple hours of driving, we were both overjoyed to get out of his car. We had some pictures left on two of the cameras so we used those to take photos of each other standing in four states at the same time. There were a lot of people there even though it wasn't summer yet; I guess people took time off all year around. I guess I was just surprised to see so many kids there.

"I think we should make a goal to try and kiss in every state." He grinned at me as we looked around at the other people taking pictures.

"That would take a long time…even if we only went to one state every day…that'd almost be two full months." I added.

"Not if we went to two or three states every day. It might only take…two or three weeks." He leaned down and kissed me.

"I don't know if I'd want to travel around that much…and it's a lot of gas money." I laughed.

"Maybe it is a bit unrealistic to do in so short a time. It should be something to do over a lifetime." He winked at me and pulled me with him by my hand.

"Where are we going?" I laughed as he led me off of the pavement out into the dusty desert.

"I just wanted to walk around with you…I'm enjoying every moment with you, it's ridiculous. If only you knew what was going on in my head, you'd probably feel sorry for me." He gave me an embarrassed smile.

"Why? What do you have in your head for me to feel bad about?" I pouted on purpose.

He gave me a kiss and I smiled right away, "Gah, you're gonna think I'm really weird if I say it."

"Are you just so madly in love with me that your well being depends on how I am?" I guessed, it was very much how I was feeling.

"Yes…how did you know that?" He grinned.

I pointed at myself.

"You feel that way too?" He laughed.

I nodded.

"We have a problem then…if we're both depending on each other and acting the way each other acts… well then what if one of us is sad?" He inquired.

"If we're both happy, why would either of us be sad?" I countered.

"Excellent point." He pulled me into a comfortable hug.

We walked around in the dust, but not too far away. This day was too perfect to be real, but after nearly bruising my arm from pinching it so many times I was wondering how this could be happening. Maybe it was because we were in such an ideal position for perfection to settle upon us. We were away from the things that made us feel held down and depressed; now we were free to choose anything we wanted to do. We were together somewhere and we didn't have to worry about anything in particular.

At one point, he'd led me around a gargantuan boulder to where no one could see us. "I don't know why…but when I'm around you I just want to say exactly what's on my mind. The only problem is that it doesn't sound weird to me." He laughed and held my hands in his.

"Go ahead and say it then. You've already asked me if I wanted to sleep in your bed with you." I laughed quietly.

I swear he blushed, but it was very warm out here.

"I'm so attracted to you right now. I know you want to get to know me better before we get all the way involved with each other…but you make me want you so badly." He huffed and put his hands on the rock wall behind me on either side of my shoulders.

I couldn't help but to laugh a little bit, "It's crazy how alike we are…I'm feeling much the same way…I guess the only difference is that I'm just enjoying being with you right now. Everything about today has been so incredibly perfect."

He stood up and let his hands fall to his sides, "That reminds me…I've been thinking about this since yesterday…but…I don't want this relationship to stop being this way when we get back to California. Everything is so beautiful with you here and I don't want it change…"

I nodded, "We're still on the same wavelength. I thought about that earlier and now that I'm thinking about it with you thinking about it…I'm thinking it will be good for us to have time apart…if we're together all the time like we are now…don't you think this would begin to deteriorate?"

"I want to say no…my head is screaming at me to say no. My heart just doesn't know if it can listen really. I want to say I don't think it would, but I don't know. When we were just-"

"You know what?" I interrupted, "Let's not talk about it now. We'll worry about it later when we get to it."

He nodded and smiled, "Ever the wise woman."

After we got back to our hotel room, I didn't want anything to distract my attention from him. "Let's go to my room. I just want to talk to you." He held my hands softly in his. "Lead the way," I smiled.

Once we were sitting on his bed, he lied down and shut his eyes, "Mind if I be completely honest with you?"

"No, go ahead." I responded quietly.

"...Why don't we move in together? It will be almost pointless to have two separate apartments. We're going to try and be together every minute we can." He sighed and held my hand tightly.

"It will be good to have our own separate spaces…we have two different rooms here," I reminded him.

"But ever since yesterday…we've only been away from each other to be in the bathroom or change clothes or something." He pointed out.

"Yes, but what if something happens and we end up wishing we had our own places to stay?" I argued.

"Maybe…I just don't want to be away from you. Now that I have you I don't want to let you away from me." He pouted and looked up at me.

"All right, sell your apartment then," I was going to try and make a point with this.

"Really? You mean it?" His eyes grew bright.

"No, wait, stop. You mean you'd sell it? Just like that? I thought you'd argue and tell me I should sell mine." I huffed.

"Bella I don't care where I am, I haven't felt at home here since I was in your apartment." He sat up and gave me a warm hug.

"Stop being so freaking sweet." I laughed.

"Isabella…" He whispered after we'd been lying there for a while, "would you be completely scared if I told you I loved you?"

I turned my head over and stared into his eyes, "Really?"

He hesitated but nodded, "Yes. I tried not to at first because I was convincing myself you didn't like me back…but I didn't want to fight it and when I succumbed to the feeling…god Bella it was like flood gates were opening. I was so relieved and I felt so happy." He leaned over me and kissed me with his hands on my jaw.

I'd felt the same thing, just different words to describe it. I managed to push him back onto the bed and I kissed him for the first time, "I tried to tell myself I didn't even have feelings for you…I was trying so hard not to, but yesterday it was too much to hold back."

He laughed quietly and just looked at me, "How can someone so perfect exist?"

"Oh geez Edward, don't say that." I laughed and let my head fall against his shoulder.

"You're perfect for me; can I say it that way?" He kissed the side of my neck which made me recoil and shiver.

"I suppose so."

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_**THE END.**_

hahahaha, no not really. That's not the end of the story, just the chapter. XDDD I'm such a jokester.

So, this chapter still has that darned tension that I'm too good at for my own good (and perhaps for yours as well...), but less of a dramatic ending. Although I wrote this months and months ago, I figured that I needed to give any potential readers a break from all of the sudden endings. This one is a little softer, but still has a little bit of mystery. Like, oh my gawsh, what's going to happen next? I think you guys will like the next chapter. *hinthintwinkwink*

So **if you'd like** for me **to post the next chapter by the weekend**, I'd like to get **10 reviews**. So that leaves you guys 3 days or so to do that. I know there are more people reading this than reviewing.

_**BONUS: If I get over 15 reviews**_ (before the weekend) _**I'll post the next 2 chapters.**_** OH SNAP!!!**

***ShiningStarr***


	12. Chapter 12: Lust, Love, Laughter

So HEY! I got 6 reviews for chapter 11......that's some improvement, but not as many as I was wishing for. *runs away and cries*

Hahaha, just kidding, I didn't run away and cry.

Anyways, here is chapter 12 (OBVIOUSLY) and I hope you guys enjoy. Tehehehehehe.

_**DISCLAIMER: This is my plot. Stephenie Meyer owns everything else basically**_. :D

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Chapter 12: Lust, Love, Laughter

I'd tried to go sleep in my room, but he was too convincing with his eyes. I'd remember not to tell him about that trait. As I'd stood up off of the bed, he grabbed my hands and stared into my eyes and he pleaded with me to stay just once more.

He was more comfortable this time around. Last night I wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing, but now it felt right. I figured it couldn't be long until I was truly going to be with him; it was only a matter of time really. He thought I was perfect for him and he was more than perfect for me; what would stop us when being together felt like the only natural thing to do?

After I woke up this morning, the feelings he created in the essential core of my being were insurmountable. He seemed like he knew every curve I'd let him near, as if he knew how it were shaped and the exact way to let his fingers drift across it to send my head into a flurry of feelings. I could only respond with my body because words couldn't tell him what this felt like.

"Say the word and I'll do anything for you my darling." He smiled happily and let his head rest on the pillow beside mine as he rolled off of me.

"Edward, I don't know how you do things like that…I just…couldn't…my brain wouldn't function. How…" I laughed and looked over at him.

"I don't know…with you I…I don't have to think about it. I get a notion to do something and I can't stop myself from doing it." His gaze was intense but loving.

"I'm only sorry I can't do anything like that for you," I laughed quietly.

He rolled onto his stomach and looked down at me, "Having the chance to watch all of those feelings thread themselves on your face is more than enough for me." I shut my eyes and felt his forehead rest against mine.

We laid there for a little while and he suddenly sat up, "You know…I was just thinking about the dress you got…I'm having trouble remembering what it looked like exactly."

"Do you need a memory refresher?" I giggled and got off of the bed.

"I'll put on my tux for you!" He teased.

As I pranced to the door, I stopped and turned around, "I don't want you to get used to seeing me in the dress though…otherwise it won't hold as much zeal."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes it will. If you look beautiful in something once, you'll look just as beautiful the hundredth time you wear it. If it'll make you feel better, I won't put my shirt on."

I laughed and turned red, "I just don't want to put the shoes on…"

"You need to break them in and you'll be tripping over your dress if you don't," His accent made everything sound so much more adorable.

"Fine, but if I can't get a shocked look off of your face when I wear this for real, I'm not going to be happy."

"Well if you want a shocked look you could come in just wearing the shoes." He grinned in a very masculine way. My face turned bright red as I shut the door behind me.

When I'd gotten into my room and put the dress on, I slipped the shoes on and I felt instantly more confident. I guess the right pair of shoes can make the woman.

After looking at myself for a few minutes in my bathroom mirror, I started playing around with my hair, forgetting he was waiting for me to come back. A loud knocking on my door reminded me; I rushed to the door and opened it on so he could see my head, "Sorry, I was looking at myself in the mirror."

He rolled his eyes, "Will you come out then? I've been waiting for you for fifteen minutes already!" I laughed at myself; I'd been doing all of that for that long?

As I pulled the door back, he let out a large breath, "Wow…"

"Does it look okay? I didn't realize how far down it came in the front." I laughed at myself and looked down at the dress.

"It looks a lot better than okay Bella…my god; you look like something out of Greek mythology." He laughed, astounded.

My face turned pink and my heart pounded harder, "That's a good thing I hope."

He took my hands and pulled me out of the room, "A very good thing. I think Aphrodite would be jealous of you."

I pushed my face into his shoulder, "You're going to make my face turn red permanently."

"I certainly hope not, I love the pale color of your face." He smiled and pushed me back off of his shoulder.

I looked down and noticed he wasn't wearing the shirt underneath the jacket, "I think you should wear it like that when we go out in these."

He laughed heartily, "I'd probably get asked if I were a male stripper. I feel like I look like one at least. It's like something out of Chip n' Dale's or something."

"Nice reference, classic SNL." I grinned and unbuttoned his coat. "You know…it's crazy but I like you better in your torn up blue jeans." I leaned towards him and smiled innocently.

"I'm more comfortable in them too. You look much better in this dress…but you also look absolutely adorable when you're in casual clothes as well. You just look…more sophisticated like this." He acted like he was going to kiss me but diverted his lips onto my neck.

Oh that feeling came back from this morning and my feet started shaking in my heels. As he pulled away, I managed to speak, "Next time you do that, make sure I'm not standing up. I could barely stand." I was almost embarrassed to have said it, but he just smiled away with those beautiful teeth.

"I'll make a mental note to remember that…and I suddenly wish I had my camera. I'd love to just photograph you in this dress…" He groaned in disappointment for having left his camera at home.

"Don't you have a phone? You could take pictures on that." I suggested.

"Maybe…let me go get it then," He laughed and dashed back to his room, coming back out in his jeans.

He had me lay out on the couch and took a few, then I was standing against a wall, then leaning against the large windows, then he said he needed some close ups, "When we get back home, I've got to get my camera out and get pictures of you in this."

"I don't merit such obsession," I laughed jokingly.

"I don't think you know how much obsession you're warranting from me…I'm going absolutely insane even with you here in front of me." He sighed and looked at the pictures as he held me around the waist with one arm.

As I leaned back against him, he moved through the pictures and we started swaying, "Do you know how to dance?"

"Yes, a little bit." I grinned.

"Want to dance then?" He shut his phone and turned me around.

"You want me to dance in this while you're wearing jeans and socks?" I mused.

"I can go put on the shirt if you want me to." He shrugged.

"Nah…you look good this way." I leaned up and whispered in his ear.

His hands tightened on my hips, "Don't do things like that if you don't want to end up on my bed without that dress on."

"Oh, I can keep my heels on?" I joked.

He grumbled and pulled me off of the ground momentarily, "Stop being so cute."

* * *

A little later in the day, we drove back to a mall and just looked around for a while. I kept him from buying me a pair of jeans I liked and bought them myself.

"You are frustrating me beyond belief. Why won't you just let me pay for you?" He groaned as we walked out of a store.

"Because I'm a big girl and I can pay for myself." I let my hand graze his back.

We walked by a store for men and he asked if I wanted to go in.

"Edward, you're the man in this pair. That's up to you." He laughed at that and pulled me in. "Can I try and pay you back for some of this trip?" I asked as he looked at sweaters.

"No. You know I won't let you." He hugged me and kissed the top of my head.

He walked out of that store with three new sweaters and two pairs of jeans, "Maybe I can stop wearing the same thing so much every week."

I laughed at his joke, "You look handsome in whatever you wear and dare I say it…gorgeous?"

That warranted a low grab on my waist, "Please tell me we're not going to be separated for too much longer. You're making this nearly unbearable."

I thought about just giving in to him--scratch that, that was a poor choice of words. I thought about giving myself to him while we were still here; would I feel that uncomfortable with it? After everything we'd done so far I could imagine going all the way with him wouldn't be that horrible.

"I don't know," I replied softly, "it just depends on how I'm feeling I suppose."

"How you feel about me? Would you take me at my word if I told you I just want to make you as happy as you can possibly be?" He laughed softly as we kept walking.

My head racked over this problem for a few minutes, but his hand never left my waist. "Yes I'd take you at your word…but it's just a 'me thing'. I know you only want to make me happy, but I have to be able to let you want to make me happy. Do see what I'm saying Edward?" I sighed, thinking he'd be confused.

"Yes…I just want to add that, I think, if you gave me the chance, you'd be glad you didn't wait any longer." He sighed into my ear.

* * *

We left the mall and got some dinner that he paid for. As we ate, every time I looked at him, my heart beat harder and my chest felt heavier like it was harder to breathe. He had this ravenous look in his eye like he wanted me more than anything.

"Bella, I won't lie to you, I want you so badly right now. You're driving me insane and in some weird, masochistic way, I like it." He laughed and grabbed my hand firmly.

"I'm driving myself insane. My head and my heart are arguing two different points." I smiled feeling a little worn out.

"What are you feeling here?" He put his free hand over his heart.

"It's beating heavily and I feel like not being with you is crushing my lungs." I laughed at my pathetic self.

"Let's get out of here then. Of course your brain is going to try and be logical, just ignore it." He pulled my hand towards himself.

"I just don't want to end up feeling like an idiot if you're tricking me." I laughed.

"Believe me, even if I were trying to trick you, you wouldn't care after what I'd do to you." His eyes became seductive and it was only a matter of getting back and seeing how much higher this level of intensity became to know whether or not we'd…you know.

He sped back to the hotel and we were making out once inside the door, which he had me pressed against. "I've never wanted anything or anyone this much Bella…what are you doing to me?" He laughed whole-heartedly and gave me a small break.

I took advantage of this reprieve and turned so he was against the door, "The same thing is going through my head."

"Can't we hurry up and get to my bed? I'm going to die soon if we don't," We both laughed as I kissed him.

"Can you give me five minutes?" I pleaded as he ravaged my neck.

"No, that's too long." He grumbled.

"Just go in your room and I'll be in there as fast as I can." I pushed myself away from him using the door.

"Why are you leaving me? I need you." He begged.

"Just get into your room, I'll be right there." I slipped out of his grasp and dashed over to my room; his door shut a millisecond after mine.

I pulled off my clothes and put on a long t-shirt I slept in, keeping on my underwear as well. As I walked to his room, I had to deep breathe to keep my head from spinning.

When I opened the door, he pulled me in rather quickly and shut the door fairly hard, "Don't do that ever again." His shirt had come off and he was in his jeans. I smiled as he pushed his body against mine on the door.

"I'd like to get in the bed before we get too far into this," I laughed softly and kissed his moist lips.

He picked me up and put me down on his bed, "I like the change of wardrobe…less for me to take off of you."

"Same goes to you," I grinned and rolled over onto him.

His lips were ferocious but his body was much kinder to mine, I felt the urgency of his touch and my mind started to go on the fritz when he kept pushing my shirt over my hips.

I wasn't sure if I'd died somewhere along the way, because my body felt like it had just…I couldn't even say what the feeling was. Maybe it felt like my heart had stopped and my body just wasn't there, but it was, indeed, very there.

* * *

Every part of my body was exhausted and he fell asleep a few minutes after we'd stopped; I'd read that was a good thing to happen and not to think he had been bored. We must have touched on some kind of heaven because he was asleep for at least two hours after I'd caught my breath.

My mind tried to tell me to get up to get in the shower but I could barely lift my head; I was so incredibly tired.

He woke up as I managed to sit up on the side of the bed, "Baby, where are you going?"

"I was trying to get up to get in the shower…it seems my entire body is out of any sort of energy though." I laughed feeling physically spent.

He laughed and rubbed his eyes, "So…if I'd tricked you…would you regret that?"

I lie back down and turned over to face him, "Not one bit. I'd just never be able to be with another man…I felt like I died at one point from too much pleasure."

He laughed loudly at that for a minute and kissed me, "You've given me the best day of my life sweetheart."

* * *

*insert really long "aw"*

Hahaha, so what'd you guys thiiiink? Now, I'm pretty sure SOMEONE is going to write me and tell me there weren't enough details or something, but hey, this is the beginning of their relationship....think about it, haha. I didn't want this to be too lemony so I gave you just enough details to suggest at what was happening, hahaha.

Anyways, **if you want me to update by the weekend**, I'm going to mandate that I receive **at least 8 reviews**. Otherwise I might just wait until next week to update and I know you guys are going to want to read more chapters soon, believe me, I wrote this story, so I should know.

REVIEW PLEEEEEASSSSSE!

***ShiningStarr***

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day.


	13. Chapter 13: I Love You Best

Okay, I know I haven't updated in almost two weeks. I'm sorry! : ( I've been uber busy with classes and work and I got sick this past week so I've been a little more tired than usual. XP I'll put two chapter up this week, but **I'd still appreciate 5 reviews on each chapter**. : )

Thank you to EVERYONE who replied! To my wonderful group of usual reviewers, I love you more than chocolate right now, haha. To those of you who have never reviewed before...I would like to hear from you. : ) I'm nice, I promise. And I reply to all reviews...except if you submit an anonymous one where I can't email you back, haha.

Here is chapter 13 lovies! I know you all enjoyed chapter 12 because...well...you know. XDDD

_**DISCLAIMER: This is my story. Twilight is not my story. I wrote this plot. I did not write the plot for Twilight. End of story.

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Chapter 13: I Love You Best

When I woke up the next morning, I was almost scared to open my eyes, afraid to find out that everything that happened yesterday was a dream. In fact, I was afraid I'd open my eyes and find myself back in my apartment and I'd never met him.

I kept my eyes shut pretty hard and tried to take in any cues I was in Arizona, and he was with me, using my senses with the exception of my eyes. The bed felt very comfortable and I noticed I only had my long t-shirt on. I never slept like that at home so I was at least convinced I wasn't in my apartment.

His lips pressed against my temple and my eyes sprung open. "Why were you shutting your eyes so hard?" He grinned as he leaned over my body.

"I was making sure I didn't dream up this entire thing…I might have gone into a horrible depression and died of a broken heart." I laughed and rolled over.

He was so beautiful to look at, even in the morning when his hair was extremely messy and he had lines on his face from his pillow. "I guess I sort of did the same thing this morning…I just opened my eyes and found you lying beside me…you can't imagine how happy and relieved I was." He leaned onto me and kissed me.

"I can't believe how incredible you were yesterday…I didn't know it was physically possible to feel that way," I blushed lightly and hugged him tightly.

He could only smile for a minute, but eventually he said, "You stole my words exactly. But I was going to add that I think we're just made for each other or something. Everything worked perfectly between us and all the pieces fell into place for us."

"How do you define 'us'?" I questioned with a smirk on my face.

"I'm going to be honest and selfish for a moment…I don't want any other man to ever look at you besides me. I want you in my arms always and I want to be the only man you'll ever say anything affectionate to." He sighed as if it were a fleeting dream.

"So…are we together or what?" I wanted him to state the terms he thought we were on.

"Together…I like saying it that way. We are together…we were very together last night." He gave me an affectionate kiss, "I want you to be mine Isabella, will you promise to be with only me?"

"That's a weird way to ask me out, but I certainly do promise." I grinned and stretched out.

As my body writhed on the bed, he lifted my shirt up a little bit on my hip and kissed it. A wave of euphoria caused me to be temporarily paralyzed and it felt like I'd gone blind.

"I wish we were in Vegas…I'd go get a ring and marry you right now if I could." He pushed my shirt back down and put his hand on my other hip.

This absolutely shocked me; he was the complete opposite of Sterling and wanted to marry me after knowing me for a little more than a week. If we ever had kids, I think it'd be fair to say my children might feel slightly alone because I'd spend so much time with him. Sterling wanted to go to therapy and wait…but Edward was offering marriage if we were in the right place.

"You'd marry me after knowing me for about a week?" I scoffed.

"I knew the first day I saw you I wanted to marry you. It's just one of those things that happens in life." He smiled and kissed me passionately.

"You amaze me so much…did you know that?" I laughed as he hugged me firmly.

"You astound me on a daily basis…did _you_ know that?" He grinned widely at me and sat up.

"After being with you like this…god I don't want to go home. I don't want to go back to my boring job; I want to keep staying with you like this." I looked at him as he smiled down at me.

"I'd let you move in with me if you wanted…I can take care of you, you know." He leaned over me on his arms and gave me a slightly pleading look.

"I know you can…and you know I like to try to do things for myself. Maybe I'll try to use my college degree for something, who knows?" I laughed at myself.

"I'd support you no matter what you did, I just don't see much of a point of us paying for two apartments when I'm either going to be in yours all the time or vice versa." He smiled whimsically.

Yet another time when I was having an internal conflict; my heart was screaming to just move in with him and let him take care of everything while my brain was being logical about the situation and telling me the consequences.

We laid there together for a little while until he finally spoke, "You know…we have about five or six days left of this trip…we could drive to some other states if you wanted. We could go to Utah or Colorado…"

"After everything we've done now I wouldn't be paying much attention to anything but you and you know it." I laughed quietly.

He grumbled and laughed as well, "I know…so would I…I just don't want this to end."

I forced us to get out of his bed so we could make good use of the day. I got my mat back out and helped him out with his poses, unafraid to touch him now.

"Was I doing these poses incorrectly all along and you never corrected me because you didn't want to touch me?" He laughed in the middle of the Cobra pose.

"Pretty much, yes. There's only so much you can explain before you have to step in and take charge. I'm just not afraid to now." I shrugged.

After he'd gone through his poses, I got onto the mat and did all the ones I thought of at the time. He was still amazed at my balance and flexibility, "I think there's something about yoga that makes a person more…vigorous with their lover."

I almost squealed in laughter, "Maybe and maybe not. It's probably just being healthy and in good shape."

He smiled and kissed me as I laughed.

Something happened that hadn't happened on our trip up until now…the phone in our room rang. We were both confused by it but I went over and picked it up, "Hello?"

"Isabella!!!" Yvette shrieked in my ear, "How can you just up and leave on vacation without telling us?! We would have come with you!"

I rubbed my ear and put the phone back against it, "I'm sorry…it was very spontaneous and…" Edward hugged me from behind and started kissing my neck. "And um…" He was making it hard to focus, "I'm just…driving around in Arizona. It's…very…beautiful."

"Girl, you're talking a little weird, are you okay? It sounds like you're having trouble speaking." She laughed.

He pulled my hips back against his and I almost let out a noise that shouldn't be heard by anyone but your lover.

"Um…I'm just…stretching." I lied as his hands slipped up under my jacket.

"Bella…are you with someone?!" She exclaimed loudly.

"Um…" I turned my head and Edward gave me a devilish stare.

If I didn't tell her now, she'd find out sooner or later, but maybe if I satisfied her curiosity for now she'd leave it alone for a little while.

"Yeah I guess I sort of am…" I blushed; his lips kissed my colored cheeks.

She squealed like a fifteen year old and got too excited for her own good, "Oh my god girl! You move on fast don't you? So who is this guy? Have any of us seen him? Have we met him?! Will we meet him? Wait, where did _you_ meet him?!"

Edward's low chuckling sounded in my ear and I shivered, "He's uh…a friend. I met him before I left and…I don't know, we clicked and we went on a road trip spontaneously."

She sounded like she was screaming in excitement, "Bella you bad girl!! What does this guy look like? Is he hot? Where's he from? Oh my gosh, have you guys had-"

Edward took the phone from me with a boyish grin on his face, "Yes we have. I'm Edward, by the way. And like I said, yes we have. Would you mind if Bella called you back later? Thanks." He dropped the phone on the hook and pushed me back to my room.

"Seriously?" I sputtered in laughter as he moved me against my door.

"Yes, I can't get enough of you…if you get bored you can just lay there and I'll take care of you." He stroked my jaw and kissed me.

"Thanks, but I'm not that much of a pacifist." I giggled as I grasped at the door to find the door knob.

His eyes glittered in happiness as he kicked the door shut with his foot. This time, if it were at all possible, it was better. I wanted to say my heart stopped for a good five seconds at one point because of how active I had become, but how could I be sure?

* * *

When he fell asleep again, we were both on the carpeted floor and I wasn't really sure how I'd missed falling off of the bed. I couldn't believe how tired I was and how invigorated I felt.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but when I looked at a clock it was almost five in the evening. I managed to stand up and walk into my bathroom; I couldn't remain on my legs for more than a minute so I just sat down in the shower and let the water rain on me.

* * *

Maybe I'd fallen asleep in the shower because when my eyes opened, he was in his jeans kneeling beside the tub and washing my arm off. My eyelids creaked up and he smiled when he noticed my eyes staring back, "I'll have to ease up on you next time…I didn't know I made you that tired."

"Did I fall asleep?" I laughed slowly.

"Yep. I was asleep for almost an hour when I woke up and heard the shower running. I considered making you a bath and joining you, but you might have been a little shocked when you woke up." He grinned and picked my other arm up.

He helped me wash my legs and my back, but left the rest for me to do while he went to his room and took a shower, "I got a hard workout with you." His statement made my face turn red.

* * *

After I got out of the shower, I brushed my hair, put on some clothes, and fell asleep on my bed. When I woke up around nine, he was sitting beside me reading a book. My eyes were blurry so I blinked a few times and sighed sleepily.

"Ah, did my girl finally wake up?" He laughed softly and put his book down to kiss me.

I nodded and opened my eyes, "I'm just so tired after that."

He laughed loudly and kissed me again, "So was I. I had to take a cold shower to wake up…I ordered up some dinner around seven so it's probably cold. I can heat it up for you if you'd like."

My eyes shut again and I sighed, "I just want to sleep…I can't believe I'm this tired. What did you do to me Edward?" We both laughed.

"I don't know…you haven't had your green tea in a few days, maybe you're slowly crumbling away!" He joked and lay down on his side.

"Probably…get a broom so you can sweep me up when I'm in pieces." I smiled and pushed my head against his chest.

"Can't I use a vacuum cleaner? It'd be much easier," He joked.

I punched his arm and tried not to laugh, "Sure, if you want to mix me in with a bunch of dirt and dust!"

He couldn't stop laughing for a minute but I couldn't see how that was so funny. "Why don't I go get some tea for you?" He offered.

"Because it has caffeine in it and it'll keep me up." I pointed out.

"Well I'm not tired…and if you go to sleep, who knows what horrible things I'll do to you in your sleep? Maybe I'll write on your face or shave half your head or something." He shrugged nonchalantly.

I just burst out laughing and felt tears running down my face eventually, "Like you'd do that to me."

He chuckled and kissed me, which I interrupted by laughing again.

He grumbled and rolled me over his body onto the other side of the bed, "You're such a mean woman."

"If I'm mean then you must be a horrid man." I giggled. He just grumbled again and walked out into the main room as he mumbled to himself.

"You can get your own tea!" He shouted and laughed at the same time.

"I don't want any so hah!" I shouted back as I laughed silently.

He opened my door and gave me a playful glare, "I don't like not being in the same room as you anymore, so either get out here or I'm coming back in here and you're not getting up until the morning."

I giggled and hopped right up, "Now who's the mean one?" He rolled his eyes and pulled me into a headlock.

* * *

Okay, another not-so-dramatic ending. But hey, I've tortured you for 11 chapters, I think you all have earned a break. XD

All right...so! Tell me what you think & **Please don't suggest things for plot details because the entire story is already written! **I'm only saying this for your benefit; I don't want to write you back and be rude and tell you not to suggest anything for me to write. Although, I may write an Edward's POV chapter at the request of a reviewer, tehehehe. I think it would be fun, but I have to find the right chapter to write one for.

All right kiddies, _**HIT THAT REVIEW BUTTON!!!!!**_ I love you all!

***ShiningStarr***


	14. Chapter 14: Breathe Me

Hello again fellow Fictioneers!

Just some quick info for everyone: Yes, I do have the entire story written out already. I try to update once a week but it doesn't always happen. I'm in college and I work part-time! If you're not in college, you may not understand the amount of homework I have! XD Also, when you work as a waitress (like myself), when I get home at night after standing on my feet for 5 or 6 hours without being able to sit down, I don't feel like hopping on my laptop and posting a new chapter, hahaha. All I really want to do is sit on my couch and watch TV to unwind. Please, don't this out of context as if I'm mad or anything, I just wanted to give you guys a little info on me. : ) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

So here's chapter 14!

_**DISCLAIMER: Um...Stephenie Meyer writes best-selling plots like TWILIGHT...I write semi-popular plots for Fan Fiction. XD**_

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Chapter 14: Breathe Me

It was our second to last night on our vacation; we were both upset about it because for the past week we'd been together for almost every minute of the day. He kept telling me I could move in with him if I wanted to and I kept giving him the same reason I had before.

"Why don't you want to live with me?" He frowned as we sat on the couch watching the television.

"It's not that I don't want to…it's just…with you, I feel like the world could be destroyed around me and I wouldn't notice if you were in front of me. I love feeling like I'm in another world with you but…back in the real world that isn't practical. We're just two people in love…" I couldn't really make sense of the thoughts in my head and I couldn't tell if he understood what I was saying either.

"I'm going to ask you something and I want you to answer this one using your brain, okay?" He took my hands in his and looked directly in my eyes.

"Okay, shoot." I nodded.

"If we were married, would you find it any easier to be in that other world with me?" He leaned his forehead against mine with his eyes shut.

I sat there and looked at him for a minute while my brain pondered over this one. Funnily enough, my heart and my head felt the same on this one, "Yes…"

His eyes opened and he leaned his head back, "Why don't we then?"

"I don't want to rush into a marriage Edward…I know we're insanely in love with each other…but I'm afraid it's going to wear off and we're going to realize it was just an intense fling or something." I huffed and ran my hand through my hair.

He stood up and walked around the room a few times, "Bella…god I love you more than anything…do you remember me telling you that I knew how I felt about you the first time I saw you?" He laughed softly, "I almost killed you, but when I saw you…oh my god my heart was tearing itself up it was beating so hard."

I laughed silently to myself as he kneeled in front of me. "Are you sure that wasn't just adrenaline?" I joked.

He laughed and kissed me, "All right, listen…I don't want to rush you into anything. I understand how you feel, surprisingly. And didn't you say you'd broken up with your boyfriend not too long before you met me?" I nodded as I remembered he'd be waiting for me when I got home.

"You know I'll wait for you as long as need be." He smiled and hugged me warmly.

Suddenly I was dreading going home, not because I wouldn't be with him, but because Sterling would probably be freaking out wondering where I was. I couldn't remember why I didn't call him to tell him I'd be out of town.

* * *

Soon, it was time to get back in his car to head back to California; we were both upset about this too. We didn't speak a whole lot driving back besides when we went past a sign indicating Las Vegas wasn't that far away. He looked over at me and smiled, "It's right there you know."

I laughed and shook my head, "I don't have a white dress unfortunately."

"You could wear the dress you got last week." He grinned widely as we kept driving towards our intended destination.

* * *

When we pulled into the garage, he let out a sad sigh, "And now the best two weeks of my life are over."

I laughed, "Why do they have to end because we're not on vacation?"

He gave me an interested look, "Are you offering what I think you are?"

"Not right now, maybe later." I giggled and got out of the car.

He gave me a long kiss before I got out of the elevator, "Call me if you want me to come down."

"Sure thing love," I blew him a kiss flirtatiously and walked off to my apartment.

After I got in and put my bag in my room, I checked my answering machine and deleted forty messages from Sterling all about the same thing. I found my cell phone and put it on the charger. My message box was full of messages from Sterling and the girls, I deleted those too. My voicemail had twenty messages from the same four people. I deleted all of those and shut my phone.

To avoid unpacking, I took a long shower and stretched after that. When it was around eight, I called Edward and asked him if he wanted to come down in about five minutes; of course he said he would. That shower was going to go to waste I guess.

A loud knock on my door gave me a startling shock. I heard Sterling yelling at me to open the door. I ran over and opened it, "What's wrong?"

"You go on vacation for two weeks and don't tell me?!" He hissed.

"I'm…I'm sorry I just…it was spontaneous and I left my cell phone here…I couldn't remember your number." I huffed and shut the door after he stomped in.

"Bells, god I didn't even know where you were for three days until the manager at Starbucks told me you took two weeks off. I tried to call you again and I kept coming by wondering if you were just around town or something. I happened to run into Elisa last week on the street and she said you'd gone to Arizona. What were you doing in Arizona?" He huffed and sat on my couch.

"I was on vacation Sterling. I'm sorry I didn't tell you…I was just incredibly stressed out and I needed some time to myself." I grabbed at my hair and paced beside the couch.

"Well…did you listen to the messages I left?" He laughed softly.

"There were about sixty of them so no." I laughed as well and finally sat down.

"Uh…well I had an appointment for us to go to a counselor but I cancelled it when I hadn't heard from you after four days…I can make another one if you want-"

"No…Sterling I don't think that's necessary anymore." I sighed and pulled my hair in front of my shoulders.

He moved his foot and it sounded like it scraped on something. I leaned back against the couch as he leaned forward to pick whatever is was off the floor.

I suddenly remembered Edward was coming and my stomach felt like wrenching itself from my body when he pulled my engagement ring off the floor; I vaguely remembered throwing it after he'd broken up with me, but I didn't know where it'd landed and I'd forgotten about it completely.

"Bella, why is this on the floor? It was kind of expensive you know." He looked at me strangely and held it up in his fingers.

I stood up to tell him to leave; I couldn't have him here with that ring in his hand if Edward showed up. According to some evil rule in life, Edward had to open the door right as I'd stood up.

He only saw me at first and smiled, that is, until Sterling turned around with that d*mned ring still pinched between his fingers.

Suddenly I was afraid everything was about to spiral out of control and my lungs felt like they were closing. "Bella?" Edward stepped in and let the door shut on its own.

"Who is this guy, Bells?" Sterling stood up and curled the ring up into his palm.

They were both looking at me but I was having an internal meltdown, "Sterling, you showed up uninvited!"

"This is your ex-boyfriend?!" Edward took a couple steps towards us.

"Bella I was worried about you! Was I just supposed to forget you exist?" Sterling looked back at me with narrowed eyes.

Two heated men trying to have two different conversations with me only made my brain fry itself more. "Sterling would you just leave! Take that stupid thing with you, please. I don't want it anymore." I tried to push him back towards the door. He was a lot stronger than I was so he didn't move when I pushed against him, "Bella, what's going on with you, huh?"

"She asked you to leave." Edward had somehow gotten behind me and pulled me away from him.

My brain wouldn't put anything together but it worked just enough to let me freak out, "Sterling, get out please!" I was getting hysterical and starting to tremble.

"I'll keep this in case you change your mind," He held the ring in front of my face so I'd see it.

With that, he walked out and slammed the door. "Just go ahead and leave, I know you want to." I tore myself away from Edward's warm arms and ran back to my room.

As I sunk to the floor beside my bed, he opened the door, "Why would I leave?"

"Because you probably think I've been lying about everything and that he just proposed to me or something." The tears stopped my trembling.

"I did at first but…clearly I've missed a lot of information. Why would I leave without knowing everything? Besides, you're upset and I can see you're in no good shape to be by yourself." He sat down beside me and pulled me against his chest.

"I'm so sorry…he just showed up and…I was about to tell him to leave when you came in." I huffed.

"I could tell by the look on your face you weren't happy with him, that's another reason I didn't leave. Usually if a girl gets proposed to she isn't mad." He laughed softly.

I smiled and wiped my tears off my face with my hand, "I guess I should tell you…we got engaged about three months ago but he broke it off the day before I met you. I was so mad at him but when I met you…you were all I could think about and I hated it because of what Sterling had done to me."

He nodded and kissed my forehead, "I can see why you were avoiding me now. I can also see why you didn't tell me that…I wouldn't have cared if you had. If anything, I would have given you more space."

"If you had, I would have assumed you didn't like me and would have had a stronger resolve not to like you…and we wouldn't be sitting here like this," I laughed shortly.

"Yeah…and I wouldn't know how wonderful you really are." He leaned his head on top of mine and breathed in the scent of my hair.

"Stop smelling my hair, you're creeping me out." I laughed and put my hands over my head.

He laughed and kissed me, "Aren't you glad I didn't leave?"

"Very. I'm also impressed with how you handled all of that. I think a normal American guy would have flown off the handle." I smiled adoringly up at him.

"Just because I'm British doesn't mean I can't get mad. I just don't see any reason to be mad around you…it's a waste of time." He shrugged and helped me stand up.

"No, just say, 'yes, us British people don't lose our tempers like you Americans do!'" I said in a horrible mock British voice.

He tried not to laugh but he couldn't help it after a few seconds, "That's the best British voice you can do?"

"I'd like to see you try an American accent better than I do it!" I glared at him with a pouty face.

He nodded and stopped laughing, "Isabella, I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world and if you don't get on that bed right now I'm going to throw you on it."

If I hadn't known him I would have thought he was an American. "Fine, so you're good with accents but I'm better with coffee and yoga!" I crossed my arms.

"I wasn't kidding about you getting on that bed you know," his accent hadn't returned yet.

"Stop talking like me, it's not as sexy!" I laughed and hugged him.

"Oh, so you think I'm sexy because of the way I talk?" He laughed as his accent had come back.

"There are one or two other things," I smirked as I walked over to my door.

"Oh no you don't, get back over here." He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me onto my bed.

"Hey, no means no!" I laughed and let him roll over onto me.

"Not when you say it. You're just trying to be difficult." He smiled and kissed the dip between my two collar bones.

My eyes dragged shut and he kept kissing me.

"You know, the ring that guy got for you wasn't that great. The cut of it didn't match your personality at all."

He was smiling at me as I opened my eyes, "I thought you were about to make love to me and here you are talking about my engagement ring…I'll bite. What cut would you pick for me?"

"Heart cut. The one he got for you was pear shaped…I didn't like it." He wrinkled his nose a little bit.

"How could you tell the cut of it? You barely saw it." I laughed quietly.

"Don't freak out but…after you got off the elevator I got back in my car to go look at rings for you." He seemed embarrassed.

"No you didn't!" I squealed.

He nodded, "I did. I found an absolutely incredible ring for you…I just haven't bought it yet on the off chance you didn't like it."

"I'd love any ring from you." I replied in that cooing sort of voice.

"I thought you didn't like me buying things for you." He laughed.

"Well if you want me to go buy my own ring I guess I'll have to…it might come out of a Cracker Jack box though." I laughed.

He cracked up with me and sat up, "If I got a ring for you…would you at least just wear it? I mean…I'd want to give it to you the proper way but I know you don't want to get married yet."

"You can give it to me the proper way…I just wouldn't um…close the deal for a little while." I smiled happily.

"Come with me to look at it tomorrow then." He leaned back down and pushed a heavy kiss on my lips.

"Okay," I agreed quietly.

* * *

WOOHOOO!!!! Oh come on, you know you were secretly cheering too. Don't deny it. XD All right, so...I can't remember if I have an awesome cliff-hanger ending coming up soon or not...I mean, this one is a little dramatic, but not like the first 11 or 12 chapters, am I right? XDDDD

Anyways, REVIEW PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE! I really appreciate reviews! It makes my day so much brighter when I see an email from saying I got a review from someone.

P.S. I notice that I get more people "favoriting" either my stories or me as an author than I get reviews. Not bragging (because I don't brag about anything basically ever, haha), just saying. Okay, I'm GUILT TRIPPING YOU. mwahahahaaaa. XD

***ShiningStarr***


	15. Chapter 15: You, Me, and a Surprise

Hokai, SO...here's the earth! haha. If you don't know what that was referring to...google it. XD I'm just feeling giddy at the moment.

Anyway! Here is chapter 15! I thank ALL of you for the reviews and ask that you _**continue to submit 5 reviews per chapter**_. : )

_**DISCLAIMER: Everything below this line was written by me, but some of the characters totally aren't mine.**_

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Chapter 15: You, Me, and a Surprise

"Bella, who is this guy you ran off with?" Elisa asked as we got out of our yoga class.

I laughed and shook my head, "Just a guy I randomly met. I met him the day after Sterling broke it off…" I just smiled to myself and thought about Edward waiting for me to come back to the apartment. Who knows if he was waiting in my apartment for me to return or not?

Yvette turned me around as we walked out to our cars, "If you don't tell us who this guy is now then it's just going to get worse and we're only going to stalk you."

"Girls please, this is…this is something special to me…I'm just working on the two of us right now. I don't know how bringing in my three best friends would work right now."

They looked ready to complain and loudly, "I promise you'll meet him…soon I hope. Just not yet, okay?"

Margot was parked next to me and before I got in my car, she tapped my shoulder, "Since we're both keeping secrets about guys…I just wanted you to know I found a guy too."

Her face turned red as I hugged her, "Margot, that's great!!" I sighed happily.

"Thanks…I just wanted to let you know because I felt weird keeping it from you three but with everything that happened with you…I knew I could tell you; you know the value of privacy." She smiled appreciatively.

"That's what friends are for Marge; your secret is safe with me." I hugged her again before I got into my car.

* * *

When I arrived back at my apartment, he was sitting on my couch with a cup of tea in his hand as he stared out the window. I was surprised the television wasn't on, "Hey."

He looked over at me and set the cup down as he walked over to me, "Hello my beautiful girl." He'd developed some distinct talent for these deep, intense kisses while keeping them short.

"Are you ready to go tonight?" He smiled happily and bounced up and down.

I groaned but smiled, "I guess…what show did you say we were seeing?"

"Phantom of the Opera, haven't you seen it?" He laughed and hugged me around the waist.

"Read the book but never heard much about it on stage. I'll trust your judgment as the student studying abroad." I grinned.

"Listen…about toni-" He started.

"Wait, what time does it start? I need to wash my hair and then dry it and fix it up and do my makeup!" I ran to my room.

"It starts at seven. Listen-"

"Edward, it's almost five!! Go upstairs, I need to get ready!" I called as I ran to my bathroom and shut the door.

He shut the door loudly so I'd hear it. I showered faster than I could remember I had in a while and jumped out, "It'll take us freaking forever to get there with this traffic, crap!" I dried my hair and curled it. I dashed back into my room and pulled my dress on. I pulled the front of it up and ran back into the bathroom to fix my hair again and then put my make-up on. I didn't put on eyeliner a whole lot so it took me about ten minutes to get it the way I wanted it.

Suddenly I remembered the gold purse he'd gotten for me to carry; I was on my knees in this three hundred dollar plus dress searching for the purse and finally found it at the bottom of my closet. My shoes were by the door but I'd forgotten my accessories. I put on the wood bead earrings and slid on a turquoise bracelet my mother had given me when I was eighteen.

Edward knocked on the door and opened it, "Isabella, are you ready?"

"Yes, I'll be right out." I dashed out of my room and stopped when I saw him in front of my door looking like he'd stepped out of an Armani photo shoot; his hair was slicked back but it came up about two inches and had been combed smooth. He'd changed out the black bow tie for a black silk tie. His shoes were shined up and reflected anything lit in the room.

He seemed to be assessing me the same way so we both just stood there for a minute staring at each other. He was the first to move towards me, "You look…just…there isn't a proper word to describe how gorgeous you are right now." I blushed and remembered I didn't have my red lipstick on. I pulled some out of my purse and was about to put it on, but he stopped my hand with his and kissed me.

My arm went up around his neck without my knowledge and I accidentally let my purse drop to the floor. My other arm was drawn upward by something and his hands were on my bare skin on my back.

His phone buzzed and he leaned back, "I set an alarm to go off for when we absolutely needed to go."

I laughed and picked my purse up, "Let me get my shoes on and we'll go."

He followed me to the door and held my hand as I stepped up into my shoes. "Those make you substantially easier to kiss," He grinned and led me out the door.

When we got to the elevator, he pushed the button for the ground floor, "We're not going in your car?"

"Bella, you don't go to the theatre in a beaten up BMW. I borrowed a car from a friend of mine. He's over in Europe but he has a house here in Los Angeles and he's not using his car." He grinned and led me out to the street.

I looked up and down the street and he opened the door to an aqua blue Ferrari; I was no car buff, but if you lived in Hollywood you knew which car was which.

"A…your friend owns a Ferrari?" I sputtered.

"Yes," he laughed as he helped me down into the seat. He ran to the other side and sat down in the car, "He's wealthy and a very generous friend." I laughed at his happy expression.

He seemed to have power over everyone in the road to make them move out of the way, but maybe it was just the car. We got to the theatre with ten minutes to spare.

He got a valet to park the car and led me inside. Celebrities were almost a guarantee when a show like this came out so there were paparazzi at the doors. Their cameras started floating in our direction, so he put his hand on my back and steered me to another door. I was thankful for that detour; I would hate to be mistaken for a celebrity.

"I should tell you…My friend also let me have his tickets for this show. We're on the fourth row in the center." He laughed and gave the man our tickets. The guy scanned our tickets and handed them back.

An usher showed us down to our seats and we made it with a few minutes to spare.

"Hey, look at me." He whispered in my ear. I turned my head and he gave me a fast kiss as the lights started to dim.

The woman behind me tapped my shoulder and asked where I'd gotten my dress, "Arizona…It's a Jovani dress." I informed her over my shoulder; I couldn't see her since the lights had gone off.

Edward leaned over to me after a minute and whispered in my ear, "You just spoke to Natalie Portman." My eyes widened and I was about to turn my head, but I remembered my manners and turned my head towards the stage.

I was absolutely enthralled with the show until the chandelier suspended on the ceiling came crashing down toward the stage on some invisible lines. I was about to scream but Edward managed to pinch my arm and I was momentarily distracted.

He laughed once the lights had come up for intermission, "Did you think you were going to die?"

"I just forgot that happened…that's all." I forced a nervous smile onto my face.

We both stood up to stretch our legs and someone else asked me where I'd gotten my dress, I didn't recognize the woman so I figured she wasn't famous.

"Tell me that wasn't someone I should know." I looked up at his huge smile.

"She's only the wife of the governor of California…you know who he is don't you?" He laughed quietly.

"Oh my god, no!" I gasped and covered my mouth.

He nodded, "It's a good thing I pay more attention to California than you do."

I grumbled, "I don't focus on stupid celebrity famous crap. I'm concerned with living my life, why should I waste my time worrying about someone else's?"

"That's a good point…I guess it's just a distraction from your own life." He shrugged.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the seat in front of ours.

"Did I forget to tell you that you look like a very handsome male model?" I grinned at him.

He laughed, "Well thank you…I was just hoping I looked decent…I didn't notice if you gawked at me or not because you were too beautiful not to look at." I hugged him slowly and he only had to tilt his head a little to kiss me this time.

At least he had the brain power to remember we were in public so he kept the kiss short, but managed to make me feel weak at the knees. "Wouldn't want to make a scene, would we?" He showed me that gorgeous toothpaste commercial smile.

"No," I let my head fall on his chest.

We sat down but I noticed Natalie Portman walking between the isles to her seat. She smiled at me before she sat down. I'd only ever seen her in one movie but I couldn't remember which one…I do remember thinking she was insanely pretty and wishing I looked half as good as her.

"Natalie might be pretty, but she can't make your cappuccino." Edward smiled in my ear. I laughed softly as the lights dimmed.

* * *

By the end of the last song, tears were starting to fall slowly down my cheeks. Edward pressed something into my hand so I looked over and smiled when I saw a handkerchief. I dabbed at my eyes and cheeks and kept it in my hand.

As everyone stood up to leave, Edward slid out of his seat and onto his knee to my side. "Edw-…what are you doing?!" I asked quietly.

He just laughed and pulled a purple velvet box out of his pocket in his pants, "You said I had to do this the proper way and…well, when's a better time to do this than when we're both dressed up like this?"

My lungs felt like they were closing in again as he opened the lid; a few people around us gasped quietly and stopped moving. One of my worst fears was public embarrassment, but when he smiled at me like he did…I forgot to notice everyone around me.

"Isabella Swan…I've known you for a long enough time to know you're the only woman I ever want to be with again. I know this may scare you to death…but if you'd do me a favor and marry me I'll do everything in my power to make you feel braver. So…would you accept this?" He was absolutely giddy when I started crying again.

I could hear people around me chanting, "Say yes! Say yes! Whoa…that's a gorgeous ring".

I laughed and shook my head, "Yes." There was a loud eruption of cheering around us that made us both jump.

People started coming up to us from three hundred sixty degrees to congratulate us and I couldn't tell who was who with all these tears in my eyes. I somehow managed to recognize Natalie come over to me and give me a hug, "Congratulations! You picked the perfect dress to get engaged in." I hugged her back and thanked her.

That night when we got to the apartment building, I told him I wasn't going into my apartment tonight. He smiled and kissed me in the elevator up all fourteen flights. He was laughing so happily as we finally reached his door.

"I can't believe you did that to me," I laughed and took one of my shoes off.

"No, keep them on for another minute. I like not having to lean down so far to get to your spectacular lips." He smiled zealously and wrapped me up in his arms.

As we rolled around in his bed, I thought I would literally die from being too happy.

"I've never been this happy in my entire life." I laughed loudly as tears flowed down my face again.

"Neither have I…and this feels perfect. Just so right." He groaned and pulled his undershirt off.

My friends would surely freak out once they found out I was engaged…and after only a month from Sterling dumping me.

"I'm not scared of marrying you Edward…" I sighed before things got too intense.

"Good…I knew you'd find your strength." He laughed quietly and kissed my jaw line.

"I hope I haven't used it up…I'm going to need it for tonight." I made myself blush right as he rolled over onto me.

* * *

OH SNAP! SCANDALOUSSSS. hahahaha. I'm a sucker for mushy stories. Well...this is more lemony than mushy, but you get the idea.

ANY OLD WAY! I know some of you might be saying, "Okay, awesome, they're engaged, I saw that coming, where's the drama???" Well, how smart of you to ask that, but I honestly can't remember when more drama occurs. I know it's throughout the story though, haha. As if THAT isn't obvious. I just haven't read these chapters in so long that I don't remember what happens in which chapters.

**Sooooo, thank you to everyone who REVIEWS! I LOVE EVERY SINGLE FREAKING ONE OF YOU!!!! If you would continue to review...you know that you'll put a happy little smile on my face! hehehe.**

**THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!**

***ShiningStarr***


	16. Chapter 16: Learning How to Cope

All right, I know I didn't respond to any reviews this last week and I'm sorry! : ( Work and class homework get in the way and then I just don't have enough of an attention span to answer reviews. Also, I'm trying to plan a trip to London & Paris with a Middle School buddy of mine. So yeah...you know I love hearing from you all (seriously, I do!) and I hope you can appreciate how busy a person can be, because I don't have a loose schedule right now.

All right, TO THE STORY!!!

_**DISCLAIMER: um...Stephenie Meyer is a literary goddess who wrote Twilight...I'm just a commoner writing a plot with characters from her book.

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**_

Chapter 16: Learning How to Cope

When I woke up that morning after, I was again afraid I'd dreamt it all up. Opening my eyes to see him asleep beside me brought a huge smile to my face.

It was a good thing today was my one day off this week because I would have been five hours late to work otherwise. I laughed to myself and turned on my side; it felt weird not facing him so I turned the other way and looked at his sleeping face.

My hand came up and I pushed his hair back over his head like it had been last night; speaking of, our clothes were on the floor in a tragic mess. His tux was going to be all wrinkled and…well my dress wouldn't wrinkle but I didn't like it as a pile of fabric on the floor.

For the first time in my life, I woke up with just a sheet against my body. I felt so embarrassed and free and it confused me. Why was it allowed to be possible that humans can feel two opposing emotions at once? It was just a conflict of interest for the human brain, ugh.

The ring on my finger made me smile broadly, but I also sighed silently as I pondered how much a ring like this could have cost. I shook my head and shut my eyes to avoid imagining him paying some absurd amount of money.

His fingers slid into mine and I opened my eyes, "What are you thinking about?"

I smiled, "Nothing…just make sure I'm not dreaming again."

"I can help you make up your mind if you need any persuasion," He grinned and leaned up on his arm.

"No, I think I'll manage…I swear your craving for me is going to prevent me…having a social life anymore, but I don't care because I'm overjoyed you find me so attractive." I laughed quietly.

"Attractive? A magnet is attractive, but you, my beautiful Isabella, are a lot more than attractive. You're astoundingly gorgeous I'll have you know." He sat up against his headboard and pulled my left hand up onto his stomach.

"You're too sweet to me. What planet are you from?" I joked.

He laughed and kissed my hand, "I'm from Mars and you're from Venus. Didn't you read that book?"

I rolled my eyes, "Nope."

He just caressed my arm for a little bit while I just kept my eyes shut. "So, is it okay if I tell my family?" He asked quietly.

I lifted my head and looked at him strangely, "Uh… well…I guess if you really want to. I just feel a little weird being engaged again after a month. It's not weird to be engaged to you…I just feel like I'm playing the field or something, I don't know." I huffed.

"Don't worry about it, I told you I'd wait for you for as long as you needed time. If you don't want me to tell anyone I won't…just have fun explaining that ring to those three girls you hang out with." He laughed.

"Oh no…" I groaned; I didn't want to take the ring off because it was from him, but I didn't want the girls freaking out over me being engaged again. Who knows, maybe they'd be happy for me-no, they hadn't even met him. They'd have to 'approve' of him before I could tell them we were engaged.

"See…the thing about the girls is that…we sort of get together to decide whether or not we think a guy is right for one of us…and if they see me with this huge rock…scratch that, with these huge rocks on my finger, they're going to flip out and…it won't be pretty." I laughed mostly to myself.

"All right, that's fine. Only…when you're not wearing it, please keep it somewhere safe. Engagement rings like this aren't cheap." He looked at the ring on my finger again.

"Maybe I should let you keep it while I'm out working…I can't wear huge rings like this anyways and if someone comes in who knows me word will spread and my friends _will_ find out and have a category five freak out." I laughed.

He laughed with me and ran his fingers through my hair, "Your life is too complicated sometimes. I hope you know that."

"I do. Believe me I do…oh geez, what am I going to tell my parents? I told them Sterling and I broke up but they don't know about you…and if I tell them about us now they're going to freak out too." I huffed and sat up.

His hand ran up my back and he sat up beside me, "Don't worry so much. I told you that you can take as much time as you need. All I know is that we're in love and we're going to be together forever eventually."

I smiled and nodded, "It's just breaking the news to friends and family that's going to be the issue here."

He kissed my shoulder and hugged me from the side, "Just tell them when you're ready."

* * *

Next week after yoga, we went out to get some dinner. Margot smiled knowingly at me about her secret and I smiled back as we walked to our table in Olive Garden. Elisa and Yvette were already sitting there sipping on wine and gabbing about something. We sat down and they both looked at us, "We got some wine, want a sip?"

I shook my head to refuse but Margot said, 'Sure!' and took a swallow; she didn't like it.

"Girls…I want to tell you something," Margot looked at me and then over at the other two, "don't freak out and yell or anything…but I have a boyfriend."

The other two girls had a silent freak out session and finally realized I wasn't joining them, "You knew?!"

I nodded, "She confided in me privately last week after you two hounded me about the guy I met."

"Whom we still want to meet." Elisa pointed out and drank some more of her wine.

"We need to have a big group date." Yvette pounded her fist lightly on the table.

"Great idea!" Elisa clapped her hands, "a huge group date would be awesome and less awkward for our guys!"

"Let's try for next Saturday?" Margot suggested, "We can go to the park or something and chill out!"

"What about the traditional movie and dinner?" I offered.

"No, everyone does that. It's boring." They all waved me off.

"Why don't we bring them to our yoga class next week?" Elisa laughed.

All our eyes lit up at that; it would be hilarious to watch the four of them doing yoga…although Edward was getting better at it, maybe I'd just tell them he had a natural talent for it or something.

"So it's set then, yoga class with the boys, out to dinner, and then we go out to a park for some star gazing!" Yvette chimed in.

"Where did these last two decisions come from?" I laughed quietly.

"It'll be fun!" She grinned and downed the rest of her wine.

I just rolled my eyes and went along with their ideas for our group date; I had to wonder if he'd be comfortable with it though, going out with me and six other people he didn't know. He had something he had to do tonight so I wouldn't see him until later in the evening; knowing I'd have to go so long without him after being around him for so long made me anxious.

When our food arrived, I didn't even notice it until Elisa waved her hand in front of my eyes, "Hey girl, eat before it gets cold."

I looked up and laughed, "I guess I better."

"I know that look Bella," Yvette pointed her fork in my direction.

"What look?" I laughed and took a bite of my ziti.

"The one you had when spaced out just then…you're thinking about this guy of yours aren't you?" She whispered it and leaned towards me. The other two girls stopped eating and looked at me.

"Well…does it bother you if I'm thinking about him?" I laughed quietly.

"No…we just haven't met him yet and you didn't start spacing out to think about Sterling until you'd been dating for at least six months. How long have you known this guy?" She sat back in her chair but none of us were eating.

"About a month," I said quietly and forked some food into my mouth.

"You've got to at least tell us about this guy. What's his name, where is he from, what does he do? We need some details." Elisa's eyes were wide and interested.

"Well Yvette talked to him on the phone once while I was in Arizona…" I shrugged.

"Oh yeah!" She laughed, "What was his name again?" "Edward…he's…he's from England." I cleared my throat as I touched my glass to my lips.

"England?!" Margot nearly yelled.

I nodded and motioned for her to calm down, "Yes…He said he's studying abroad here for a while. He lives close to where I do." I decided not to let them know he lived in my apartment building to protect him from potentially being stalked.

"Okay, so you have Edward from England…what does he look like?" Elisa prodded my arm from across the table.

"He's about six foot two…he's pretty fit, he has brownish hair with a weird copper-ish tinge to it…his eyes are blue and he's just absolutely gorgeous." I sighed at the end and laughed to myself.

"Oh my god, how many times have you two done it?" Elisa's jaw was hanging down a good inch from her upper lip.

Did she really expect me to know the answer to that? Maybe they all thought I wasn't the type to have wild, ravenous sex a lot…I didn't either. "I uh…I don't think I've counted." My face was starting to burn a little so I fanned my face thinking I was just getting too hot from the food.

"Holy sh*t, you've done it a lot haven't you?" Yvette's jaw dropped as well.

"Define a lot?" My voice was suddenly higher.

"How long have you known this guy?" Elisa waved her hands around as she asked.

"About a month." I nodded.

"When was your first time with him?" She inquired.

"Um…I don't know maybe…two or three weeks ago." I regretted saying that when I saw their faces.

Every one of them were extremely shocked I'd been with a guy only a week after knowing him; they knew I was usually a lot more prudish than that.

"You and he…after a week?!" Margot laughed quietly.

"Yeah…once you see him you'll see why." I grinned.

"So answer my other question, how many times?" Elisa interrupted.

"Well…I guess our first time was about a week after we met and it's been three weeks since that so…" I realized I'd been with him basically every night since then.

My face had to have turned red because they all gasped and started giggling. "Please don't laugh!" I covered my face, afraid other people would notice; they stopped because they knew my fear of public embarrassment.

"How many times Bella?" Margot whispered.

I shrugged, "We've barely been apart for one night since three weeks ago."

The three of them covered their mouths to laugh while I went to the bathroom to calm down; I was suddenly embarrassed of being so wild with him. I knew I was going to tell him I wanted to be alone tonight and he'd either be fine or say he hated to be away from me for so long.

We didn't take too long to finish eating after I'd returned to the table. Once we'd paid, I rushed back to my apartment to shower and maybe take a nap.

* * *

My shower didn't last that long and my nap only lasted an hour; I walked into my living room and saw it was a little bit after six o'clock. He said he'd probably be home around eight so I had two hours to kill.

I pulled out my laptop and checked email; an email from my mom asking how I was and if I was ever going to come and visit. She also never failed to remind me how long I'd been away from home; this time she said it'd been 18 months. I never meant to have it be so long between visits, I just lost track of how fast time went by and didn't stop to think of visiting family that lived so close.

I opened a new email and wrote some long paragraphs to my mother apologizing for not coming sooner and updating her about my life. The only thing I told her about my love life was that Sterling and I were officially not together anymore and that I'd met a new guy…that he was a potential guy in my life. I didn't want to tell her I'd gotten engaged to another man after a month; she and my father were open to what I wanted to do with my life, but even that would have been a little extreme to the pair of them.

Somehow I managed to fall asleep after seven and woke up at one in the morning on my couch. I knew he would have woken me up if he'd come in so I assumed he'd just gone up to his apartment.

I called his phone but it was off; I decided to leave a message telling him we were going on a group date next Saturday and that I missed him at the moment.

As I got up to drag myself to my bed, I nearly tripped over my power chord. I pulled it out of the wall and carried it with me to my room. It was so weird not having him with me; we'd been together to sleep for the last three weeks.

After I'd set my laptop down, I pulled the ring he'd bought for me from out of one of my shoes in my closet and put it on my finger. Just standing there looking at it made me wish he was here to wrap his arms around me and tell me something sweet in that delicious accent of his.

Once I was in my bed, I turned out my light and sighed; I figured on having trouble falling asleep tonight…somehow the ring reminded me that even if I was alone, he was having as much trouble with it as I was.

* * *

TTT-TTT --That's me crying. Hahaha. Every time I read that ending I just want to curl up in a ball in a dark room and weep like a small child. XDDD It's just sad, you know? She's all in LOOOVE and she can't be with her MAN! : (

Anyway! I hope you liked the chapter and sorry about the lack of Edward-lisciousness in the last chunk of the chapter. He'll be around for a while in the story, I assure you. AHAHA.

So now, you want another chapter? _**5 REVIEWS PLEEEASE. 10 in the next 2 or 3 days will insure a chapter by Thursday. MMHMMM.**_

***ShiningStarr***


	17. Chapter 17: Love, Save the Empty

All right Fictioneers, here's the deal: I have been EXTREMELY busy for the past 2 weeks and thus, have not had much time to do anything outside of work or class. I'm sorry I haven't responded to any reviews, but you guys know I love each and every one of you for reviewing. _**Plus, if I don't get 5 reviews every chapter, you know I won't post**_. MWAAHAH. I know I'm evil, sorry. I'm tired and I need to write a paper about European cars (idiotic I know) for a Design Fundamentals class. XP

So here is the next chapter!

_**DISCLAIMER: Twilight was written by someone who isn't me. This plot, however, WAS written by me. DON'T STEAL IT.

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Chapter 17: Love, Save the Empty

Morning came almost instantly after my eyes had shut early this morning; why did sleep never seem as long as it actually was? I'd woken up a little after eight…it was weird for me to be waking up so early when I'd gotten used to sleeping past ten with Edward around.

I made myself a cup of tea as I got ready to go to work at nine; I wondered if he'd left me a message but I figured he wouldn't wake up until eleven or something. How he did any sort of studying was beyond me.

Not being at work was dismal; I was sort of happy to be back after two weeks away from it. The smells of different kinds of coffee made me smile today and I think my co-workers noticed it. Several of them said I even looked better after my vacation; I certainly felt better.

I'd left my ring at home in my shoe again, I didn't want to worry about losing it or someone coming in that knew me. When I took my lunch, he still hadn't called and it was almost one in the afternoon. My mind was going through various scenarios when I shook my head and sighed; I was so pathetic to pine after him like this. Even if we were engaged, we were two different people with our own lives. Maybe he had to catch up on some studies or something and didn't have to time to talk to me right now; that had to be it.

If Edward had been slacking off from any sort of work he was supposed to be doing for three weeks, I imagined he had quite a bit to catch up on. Maybe I'd go up to his apartment and see if he was there after work.

With my mind's mind made up, I left my problems in my small office and went back to work happy as a clam; I had to wonder why clams were so happy though.

When my shift ended, I got my purse and went home at a normal pace so I wouldn't feel so self-patronized for rushing home to see if he was there. I went to my apartment and changed into something more comfortable before going upstairs and knocking on his door.

I waited a minute and he didn't answer, I knocked again and waited; still no answer. I banged my fist on the door and called out his name, "Edward! Are you in there?"

After no answer for another minute, I went back to my apartment feeling disappointed and exhausted. All that waiting and hoping had been for nothing, I was too obsessed with him for my own good.

Going back down to my apartment felt, like an equivalent to, degrading. I kicked my door open and shut it harder than I normally did. Great, now I was bummed out over not seeing him for almost a day. There were going to be times when we'd have to be away from each other, I had to learn to accept it.

* * *

My computer was sitting on top of my legs as I went through my email; my mom had written back already. She wanted to know more about this 'Edward' I was so interested in. I wrote her back describing him the best I could, but it's hard to describe how beautiful someone is with words. I typed a few other things: life was good, and my job was great, I still practiced yoga every day, nothing had changed much.

Suddenly I heard my phone buzz, he had sent me a text message, "I miss you. Sorry I haven't been around today." I smiled and was glad for the brief communication. I sent him back a text with the reply: "First night without you in a while. I missed you too."

Waiting for his response was almost painful; I just wanted to see his words on a small screen just to know he was thinking about me. It didn't take him long to respond, "I knocked but you didn't answer. Went upstairs and had to get up at six this morning :P".

So he had come down last night? Great, I _would_ have to sleep through him knocking on my door. I'd just thought he never came by and I'd been slightly distressed by this; somehow I'd just slept through the knocking. I texted him back with "Should've broken down the door. I thought you never came by."

A few seconds after I'd sent it, he was calling me and I picked it up after one ring, "So, what, did you think I was too tired or something to come to your apartment?"

His cheery laugh brightened me right up. "Something along those lines. I've been completely miserable today not having talked to you at all. What are you doing to me?"

He laughed again and I pictured his beautiful smile.

"I don't think you know how long I waited outside your door last night. I knocked a few times but you never came so I assumed you were asleep. And believe me, I thought about knocking your door down just to see you." His voice indicated he was smiling broadly.

"I must have been exhausted last night not to have heard you knocking. I was fifteen feet away on my couch!" I laughed shortly.

"Are you a heavy sleeper?" He inquired.

"I don't know…I wake up at the slightest noise sometimes and other times I hear about huge storms that come through and I don't wake up until the morning." I smiled to myself.

"Well…hopefully I'll see you tonight. I don't know if I can go two nights straight without you." He sighed pitifully.

"I don't think I could either. What time are you getting back today? Maybe I'll come up there and see you." I offered.

"My place is an absolute wreck. I think it could be considered a disaster zone." He laughed at his boyish habits.

"I am pretty good at cleaning if you'd like some help. I'm excellent at sweeping." I laughed quietly at myself.

"Maybe you can help me clean up my bedroom…" He sounded a little too flirtatious, "It's actually the worst room in my apartment. I think my suitcase exploded after we got back."

I laughed loudly, "It's been a few days since we got back, you never unpacked?"

"No…I'm terrible at it." He sighed.

I rolled my eyes with a huge grin on my face, "So do you know when you'll be back?"

"I'd rather try to clean up a little bit before you come…you might reconsider marrying me if you saw how bad it is up here." He chuckled quietly. "Hardly anything could make me reconsider that. If it bothers you that much though, I'll stay down here." I grinned.

"You've done me a great favor Bella. I'll get a present for you." He laughed.

"No! No presents! Come on!" I groaned.

He just laughed and laughed, "Why can't I buy you a present? I'm your fiancé!"

"Because the ring you bought me is quite enough for a while. Let's save any sort of presents until we're at least fifty years old, okay?" I smirked.

He paused for a moment, "What if the present were ice cream?"

"Well that is perfectly acceptable." I laughed at his wit.

"So I can buy you things as long as they're cheap?" He groaned.

"No…only if they're edible. That way they only last for a short time." I laughed loudly.

"I wish I could hang up on you but I'd call you right back! You're such an American tease, did you know that?" He growled slightly.

"What?!" I squealed, "I am not!"

"Yes you are, you've been a tease since I first met you! You're just gorgeous and you try to stay away from me and then you finally come to me and you like to tease me before I get you into bed." He scoffed loudly.

I burst out laughing, "I have never been called a tease in my life!"

"Well you are, you're a horrible tease…although sometimes I have to admit it's absolutely adorable." He said in a loving voice.

I smiled to myself, "So what time do you want to come to my apartment since yours is under construction?"

He laughed, "Finally, I thought you'd never ask! Well let's see…I have a meeting with a uh…person from my school in London to check up on me and make sure everything is okay. I have to take them around and show them places I like to go and tell them why…and I have to let them meet some of my friends, my guy friends actually. Apparently we're not supposed to try and hook up with girls or something, I don't know, that one's out the window. So I guess I might be over there around eleven thirty this evening? Will that be okay?" He cleared his throat.

"Of course. I guess I'll just be here all alone until you get here. Maybe I'll take a shower for a couple hours until you get here." I joked.

"No, then you'd be all wrinkled and pruned. Although whatever you wash your hair with makes me want to kiss every inch of you. I'd almost tell you to stop using it so I won't feel like I'm high every time I get a whiff of your hair…but then I'd beg you to keep using it so I could." He laughed pathetically.

"Whatever you wash your hair with makes it very soft…just don't ever stop using whatever that is." I grinned.

"Deal?"

"Deal!" I agreed.

"I'll try to get to you earlier if I can…maybe tell the guy I'm tired or something." He laughed.

"Just break down my door if I don't answer." I joked.

"I'll pay to replace it." He joked back. I groaned and told him I loved him before we hung up.

* * *

After that relieving and enlightening phone call, I took a shower and used a little more shampoo than usual. I put moisturizer on my arms, legs, stomach, and back to moisten up my dry skin; this California heat was murder on my fair skin.

I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes for a few minutes; I was woken up by someone knocking on my window. My reaction was to jump off my bed away from the window and I did; when the person kept knocking, I slowly crept over and twisted the little wand thing until I saw Edward's face smiling back at me. I huffed and pulled the towel off of my head; at least I'd put clothes on after I'd gotten out of the shower.

He laughed as I struggled to push my window up. I'd never opened it before so it took me a minute.

"You're crazy!" I huffed as he leaned in the window.

"I knocked on and off for five minutes but I wasn't going to break your door down…I just went up to my apartment and climbed down the fire escape." He shrugged and leaned against the window frame.

"That's…that's eight flights of stairs outside! What if you'd fallen off or something?!" I leaned out and looked up.

"I wouldn't have fallen, I'd have to jump over the rail to fall; besides, it's worth it to see you." He shrugged and breathed in the scent of my hair, "Oh, you do torture me."

I giggled and leaned back into my room, "Your shirt is a little messy."

His smile was so contagious that I started smiling like an idiot in love, "I guess I'll have to take it off so I don't get anything dirty."

My eyebrows went up a little bit but I tried to remain calm, "If you want to."

"If you want me to. I can't say no to you." He laughed and shut my window.

I ran my fingers through my hair but didn't get very far because of the tangles, "Let me brush my hair really fast." I dashed out and combed through my hair quickly.

When I got back to my room his shirt was on the floor and he was sitting on my bed, "So I'm curious, where do you keep your ring?"

I blushed as I went over to my closet and pulled it out of the pair of shoes he bought for me.

He laughed quietly, "Put it on and come over here. I need a good kiss from you." His arms were out and open as I fell against him. He didn't hesitate to kiss me, "You keep your ring in a shoe?"

I blushed again, "I remember it there."

"Just don't lose it. I'd have to buy you a bigger one." He laughed and rolled me over onto my back.

"Oh, do you have to be at work tomorrow? I don't want to keep you up too late." He smiled down at me.

"Yes, not until nine though…if I get at least seven hours of sleep I think I'll be fine." I nodded and grabbed the back of his arm. "Good…I get three hours with you then." He let his weight down on me and put me into some kind of trance where I felt I had no control over myself; instead, he was controlling me…I didn't mind though, I never thought clearly when he was with me like this.

Maybe two hours later he was asleep and I was still catching my breath; I set my alarm and closed my eyes. Being without him for a day was almost mental torture but it was worth it to have such an amazing connection with him like this.

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OH SNAP. So much lemony-ness. ahahaha. I know you guys aren't complaining though. XD Who, in their right mind, would complain about a shirtless Edward? LOL.

Anyways, _**5 reviews please**_. I'll try to get the next chapter up by the weekend (hopefully). If you flood my inbox with reviews, I totally won't hold that against you though. :D

PEACELOVEANDCHOCOLATE!!

***ShiningStarr***

P.S. More drama is soon to ensue. oh yes.


	18. Chapter 18: Decisions, Decisions

YAY! I am updating on Saturday instead of Sunday, haha. I only have one more class (Monday) so I don't really have any homework to do. WOOHOO! Therefore, I should be less stressed and I shouldn't have problems replying to reviews or updating. YAYNESS.

So here's chapter 18. I haven't read this in a while. Hope you all enjoy it! XD

**_DISCLAIMER: Only the plot belongs to me. Bella & Edward belong to Stephenie Meyer. Also, I don't own anything related to "Pretty Woman"..._**

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Chapter 18: Decisions, Decisions

My dreams were dull compared to my reality; I was finally truly in love with someone. A smile drew my lips up at the corners and I felt his finger tracing the outline of them.

That tantalizing touch caused my eyes to pop open and look up at him, "Hello."

"Good morning, what were you smiling about?" He grinned and kissed my shoulder.

"My life is better than my dreams now…thanks to you." I laughed and rolled onto my side to face him.

"It's a little past seven…I can't believe I'm up this early." He laughed softly and ran his fingers over my hair.

"I sleep so late when I'm with you…we're messing with each other." I giggled and rolled over onto his chest.

"Maybe so, it could be a good thing. You need more sleep and I don't need quite as much." He shrugged and kept smiling at me.

We just grinned at each other until I started laughing, "This feels so corny just lying here smiling at each other. I feel so…90's chick flick or something."

He laughed loudly and sat up, "So who are we then?"

"Um…well, maybe Richard Gear and Julia Roberts. That was one hot movie couple." I laughed and sat up, pulling the sheet with me.

"Pretty Woman? You're certainly not a hooker…but you look better than she did." He smiled widely at me and I wanted to melt.

"It fits us pretty well besides the whole prostitute thing. You insist on buying me things…you're not afraid of heights are you?" I joked.

"I don't think I've ever been high enough off the ground to know the answer to that question," He smirked as he thought about it, "You tried everything you could not to kiss me."

I rolled my eyes, "You're stretching this a little bit."

"If some guy ever tries to take advantage of you I'd beat him up like Richard Gear did." He picked my hand up and kissed it.

"Oh I'm engaged to a cheese ball!" I wailed sarcastically as I pulled my towel off the floor and wrapped it around myself to go into the bathroom.

"Towel or no, I know what's underneath it." He called as I shut the door.

I opened the door and glared lightly at him, "Keep saying that and you won't see anything for a while."

"You wouldn't do that!" His jaw was dropped in disbelief. "I wasn't this active with a guy before you…I think I could re-adjust." I teased and shut my door.

* * *

After I washed my face, I felt refreshed and ready for another day after having woken up with him beside me. He made everything better in my world.

He knocked on my door lightly so I pulled my robe on and tied the front shut, "Yes?" I cracked the door open.

"I'm going to go ahead and go; I have some things I need to do today." He informed me as he pulled his shirt on.

"All right then," I opened the door and hugged him tightly; "Do you want to get out and do something when I get back?"

"Sure, why don't we go to a movie or something?" He suggested.

"Pick one but consider what you think I wouldn't want to see," I grinned and looked up at him.

His eyes traveled down to where our bodies were touching and then looked back up at me, "You were so much easier to kiss with those heels on."

I rolled my eyes and nudged his back, "Not my fault I'm vertically challenged next to you."

He laughed loudly and hugged me tighter, "Maybe I'll just start lifting you up in my arms?"

"Try it and I'll punch you," I threatened lightly.

"A tease _and_ a dominatrix, you keep surprising me." He joked and stepped away before I could slap his arm.

I waited until I heard him walk back up to the bathroom, "I hate working and not being with you."

He opened the door and looked at me in the mirror, "My offer still stands you know. Stop working and live with me, I can keep you living the same."

"You're too sweet, I hope you know that. I'd get bored of not having anything to do eventually." I smiled sadly.

"Find a different job then. You've been working at this one for a long time; you've established you can work in one place for a good while. Find something else you're passionate about. Coffee can only go so far." He joked.

I sighed softly and hugged him again, "Maybe you're right. I just don't know what to do…I got a degree in Marketing and Advertising but I've never used it."

"Did you enjoy that particular field or was it just something to choose?" He asked as his arms held me close.

"A little bit of both. I could never figure out what exactly I wanted to do with myself." I laughed and leaned my head against his chest.

"Do what makes you happy, that's all I can offer." He grinned and kissed my forehead before turning to go. I waved at him as he shut my door; work immediately became an obstacle to get over before I could see him again.

* * *

When I'd gotten to work and had been working for a little while, I realized I'd grown bored with this. Sure I loved coffee, but mainly just the smells and how happy it made me feel. I didn't love making it anymore…maybe that's why I only drank green tea now.

Somehow the time managed to go by and my shift was over; I left as quickly as I could and flopped down on my bed in frustration and maybe a slight bit of depression. My mind kept flopping between two decisions: keep working there or quit.

If I quit, I could afford to stay here for a while off of what I'd saved up, but I remembered I'd have to eat and pay bills so it wouldn't last as long. If I couldn't afford to live here anymore, Edward would insist I move in with him and I didn't think it was such a terrible idea anymore. On the other hand, millions of Americans hated their jobs and kept working at them anyways, why should I think I could be any different?

My phone rang on the bedside table so I reached over and answered it without opening my eyes, "Bella speaking."

"Hey, it's me." Sterling spoke politely.

He was, possibly, the one person I wouldn't care to see ever again and here he was calling me in the midst of my quarter life crisis, "Hey, what's up?"

"Well…we haven't talked since you got home from that road trip you went on and that didn't go too well. I was hoping we could try to talk this over again." He sounded apologetic and it made me sympathize, unfortunately.

"Um…do you want to talk now? I just got home from work and I'm exhausted so I'm not going to go out anywhere to meet you," I laughed.

I heard his low laughter on his end of the phone, "Well…can I ask you a question about something?"

"Go ahead," I said nonchalantly.

"Who is that guy that was in your apartment when I was there?" He sounded hesitant in tone but his voice seemed confident enough.

"He's a good friend." I huffed; I couldn't tell him I was engaged with a ring that made his look like plastic.

"How good of a friend is he?" He prodded.

"I went to Arizona with him, we both had some time off and we went on a road trip together." I responded innocently.

"Yeah and I'm sure you're going to tell me nothing happened?" He scoffed.

"Nothing you'd care to know." I huffed back at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He sounded mad.

"It means nothing happened that is important enough to tell you. Why do you care anyways? You broke up with me, not the other way around. I don't have to tell you anything I don't want to so I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out of my personal life." I slapped my phone shut and turned over in a flurry.

My phone rang after a few minutes and I answered it while still fuming, "Calling me back after three minutes isn't-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Bella. Calm down!" Edward called over me.

"Oh-god I'm sorry Edward, I thought you were someone else calling me back." I huffed and sat up.

"Don't worry about it…are you okay though? I've never heard you sound that angry." He commented carefully.

"Sterling called me and ticked me off. He wanted to know who you were and if anything happened while we were away," I nearly growled the entire sentence.

He paused for a few seconds, "...What'd you tell him?"

"I said we were good friends and that nothing happened that was important enough to tell him about." I grumbled.

"Oh no, you should have described all those intense moments we had together!" He sounded tickled.

"Are you kidding? He'd call everyone I know and tell them!" I nearly laughed at that.

"So? Won't everyone know we're together eventually? Those three girl friends of yours know." He offered.

"Yeah but I just don't care to have him in my life anymore so I told him to stay out of it basically." I got angry again.

"All right, calm down then. If he calls you again, tell him you'll get a restraining order if he won't leave you alone." He suggested casually.

His suggestion actually caught me by surprise, "Wow…that's certainly a suggestion. I don't know if I could ever say that to him though."

"If he calls you while I'm around, just give me the phone." He laughed.

"Oh no, you'd say horrible things to him in British slang that neither of us could understand!" I grinned.

"Maybe and maybe not. I just don't like hearing you're so upset over something like this." He said gently.

I rolled my eyes and grinned like a fool, "I guess I should tell you…I'm thinking about quitting at Starbucks."

"You are? Does that mean what I think it means?" He sounded over-eager now.

"Maybe…I said I was thinking about it, I don't know if I'll do it yet." I sighed heavily.

"Bella, stop forgoing the inevitable. You tried to stay away from me once; you're doing it again now." He laughed softly.

"Maybe I am…I've just been independent for so long I don't know if suddenly becoming dependent on you would break my spirit or something." I shrugged.

"The only thing you'd break is my heart if you won't move in with me soon. How many times do I have to say that us having two different apartments is pointless. We're miserable when we're not together and if we're apart for one night we both go crazy." He pleaded.

When he spoke that way, I had the urge to call the district manager right now to quit; I did hate being away from him for so long. If I moved in with him then I wouldn't feel so horrible if I couldn't wake up next to him; if I moved in now, maybe I'd be happier at my job? Hah, yeah I doubt that would happen.

"I'll think about it." I replied softly.

"You wouldn't regret it, I promise." He replied in a sing-song voice.

I rolled my eyes again and laughed, "Probably not."

Saturday finally rolled around and I was dreading having to go on the group date because the three of them would flip out once they'd seen Edward. It was rather unfortunate, but what happened was a stroke of luck to me: I'd caught some twenty four hour bug and I could barely get out of bed.

Edward stayed with me for about five minutes until I made him leave because I didn't want him to see me like this. As he got to my bedroom door to leave he turned and said, "I'm going to have to love you for better or worse eventually, just let me help."

"No…" I grumbled, "I don't want you catching this." His face fell into a pout and he left before I could call him back.

I had to get up to go to the bathroom periodically and every time I got back into my bed I feel asleep until the next time I'd wake up feeling nauseated. I managed to sleep through the night and I felt better when I woke up.

Edward called me around ten and said he felt fine and asked if he could come down. "At your own risk." I laughed.

I rushed to my bathroom, brushed my teeth vigorously, washed my face, combed my hair, and pulled it back into a bun. I had to have looked horrible after yesterday.

When he showed up at my door, he put his hand on my forehead and smiled, "Yeah, your skin is much cooler today."

I giggled and hugged him, "Sorry for being so cranky…I just didn't want you around me when I looked so awful."

"I don't think anyone looks pretty when they're sick," He joked.

"Maybe…I just didn't want you to see me like that." I shrugged.

"Even if you looked awful I'd still love you, you know." His oh-so-spectacular smile was shining at me again.

Only about three people knocking on my door could make me feel like throwing up again.

"Bella open the door! We know you're in there!" Elisa laughed.

Edward looked down at me with a crooked smirk, "Your friends?" I nodded and hoped they'd go away.

"If you don't come to this door in ten seconds I'm opening it with your spare key you gave me!" Yvette threatened. My eyes widened as I heard my front door burst open after only a second.

They all rushed back to my room as I stood there in my clothes from yesterday and he stood in front of me looking like a Greek Statue.

I won't lie, all three of their jaws dropped.

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AHAHAHAHA. If only I could create a photo of that moment. I think we'd all start laughing hysterically. Well...you probably imagined the scene anyways so you can laugh without my would-be created image. WHATEVER. I'm getting too technical. XP

So, I hope you liked it! I'm turning **----**_**20----**_ this coming Monday...(holy CRAP, not a teenager anymore!!)...so **if you want to give me a free birthday present, SEND ME A REVIEW!!! **I'm going to reply to all of them ANYWAYS!

*ShiningStarr*

P.S. I'm requiring 5 reviews anyways. :P


	19. Chapter 19: Let's Get Serious Now

HEY fellow awesome people! Here's the deal: I'm going to London tomorrow (if the stupid volcanic ash doesn't get my flight cancelled) and I won't be able to to post anything for the next 2 or 3 weeks! I know, I know, you can't wait that long between chapters, but there's nothing I can do! : ( I'm sorry and I promise I will post them when I get back!

Also, thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! I did have a good birthday!

Oh, in case some of you didn't hear about it on the news (because they didn't give it a lot of coverage), Nashville, TN (my hometown) received record breaking flood waters on the 1st and 2nd of May. We got 13 inches of rain in 2 days and that's more than Nashville has had in its history (in 2 days) since they started recording water levels. We need help and we need people to know about this since the news obviously won't talk about it. If you think it isn't bad, just look up footage on Youtube. Type in "Nashville Flood 2010". Look up News Channel 2, 4, or 5 footage from the flood. It was terrible and so many people have lost EVERYTHING.

This all being said, here's the chapter!!!

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Chapter 19: Let's Get Serious Now

The five of us stood in my room for about half a minute before Edward spoke up, "Hello, you three must be the friends I've heard so much about." They all pulled their jaws up and smiled at him; I'd hardly told him anything about any one of them.

"And you must be the amazing guy Bella has told us about," Elisa was the first one to come up to him despite the fact she was happily married. Edward shook her hand and smiled at her.

Elisa's head came around him and she grinned slyly at me.

"Oh, well," I stepped up beside Edward and introduced everyone, "Edward, this is Elisa, Margot, and Yvette. Girls, this is the guy you've wanted to meet."

He smiled down at me and put his arm around my shoulders, "Nice to meet you ladies. Sorry we couldn't make it last night; Bella got pretty sick yesterday and wouldn't let me stay to help take care of her."

"Of course she wouldn't. Bella hates when people are around her when she's sick." Yvette laughed quietly.

* * *

We eventually moved out of my bedroom and into the living room. "So…did you three come over to stalk or to check out my boyfriend?" I joked as Edward went over to my refrigerator.

Margot laughed, "Maybe both. You never said he was this hot!!"

"I told you he looked good…it's hard to describe how much so with words." I grinned.

That conversation died when he came back over with a glass of water, "Oh, I'm sorry, did anyone want anything?" Everyone said they were fine but I asked him if he wouldn't mind boiling some water for me.

As he walked back over to put some water on, Yvette leaned over to me, "You never mentioned he had an accent!" "I told you he was from England!" I rolled my eyes sarcastically as her.

"Bella, I need to go upstairs and get my phone. I'll be back in a few minutes." He smiled at me and waved before he left.

"He lives in this building?!?!?" Margot nearly shouted.

I motioned for her to keep her voice down, "Yes…I didn't want to tell you three because I didn't want you stalking him or something!"

"Honey, we stalk because we care. Since you and your personal Greek god didn't show up last night, Yvette's boyfriend got most of the questioning." Margot grinned.

"Yeah and he was a little creeped out by you two." She frowned lightly.

I laughed quietly, "Sorry about that Yvette."

"So how did you meet him? You've lived here for a while now, what took you two so long to meet?" Elisa prodded for the details.

"I met him in the parking lot actually…I'd already gotten out of my car and he almost ran me over with his car," I laughed remembering the expression on his face.

"You find this funny?" Margot raised her eyebrow; I always wanted to be able to do that like she did.

"Well it wasn't then but it is now. That's been a little over a month ago…we're in a wonderful relationship now!" I grinned happily.

None of them spoke for a few moments, they just watched me smile. "Girl, you got it bad for this guy, don't you?" Yvette grinned vivaciously.

I nodded vigorously, "He took me to see Phantom of the Opera last week…it was so wonderful."

"You went to that?! Oh you lucky duck!" Margot groaned; she was a huge Phantom fan, "Those tickets weren't cheap either. Where'd you sit?"

I was afraid she'd tell me how much the seats were where I sat, but I couldn't think of anything else to say, "Fourth row center." They all looked at me in astonishment.

"Those are probably some of the best seats in the house." Elisa scoffed in astonishment. "Not to mention they're not cheap."

"He didn't buy them though," I remembered, "He has a friend who had tickets but didn't go…so he gave them to us."

"Wow, some friend." Margot blew her hair out of her face.

"You had to have worn something nice…and I've seen your wardrobe." Yvette looked at me knowingly.

"He uh…bought me a dress in Arizona…" I said shyly.

"Go put it on." Margot ordered.

"No! Not right now! He could come back down any minute…" I huffed.

"Go put it on or I'm putting it on you!" Margot laughed and stood up.

I went back to my room and put the dress on. I took the ring out of the shoe and set it on my bedside table. "Try not to freak out too much," I called before I entered the room.

Needless to say, they freaked out big time, "Holy crap! Bella you look so sexy! You need to wear stuff like this more often!" Elisa clapped her hands happily.

"Seriously, how much was this? Silk like this isn't cheap." Margot examined the dress as she walked around me.

"What shoes are you wearing because you aren't this tall on your own," Yvette lifted up the hem of my dress and marveled at my shoes.

"He got those too…he wouldn't let me pay for them." I huffed.

"Where can I get me a man like that?" Margot laughed.

"Oh come Margot, don't bash your boy toy like that!" Elisa scolded jokingly.

"He's just…he's too perfect…I feel like I'm supposed to find out some horrible secret that will ruin our relationship." I huffed and looked down at myself.

"I'm assuming he performs as well as he looks?" Elisa smirked devilishly.

I blushed but answered, "Maybe even better." They all squealed as I went back to my room to put some new clothes on; I put the ring back in my shoe.

After I'd come back out, Edward was coming in, "Miss me?"

I smiled and hugged him, "They made me put my dress on."

He laughed and hugged me harder, "So did you four talk about me enough or should I leave again?" We all laughed.

"Actually, we do need to go. We just stopped in to see Bella." Yvette grinned at me.

They left rather quickly and I was left alone with him once again. "Your friends seem pretty normal. I don't know why you were so nervous." He kissed me deeply.

"It's just a girl thing…I'll be more nervous when parents have to start meeting each other and meeting us as well." I huffed and leaned my head on his chest.

"That's not now so don't worry." He shrugged and held me tightly. I just nodded and shut my eyes.

"So let's get out and do something today. As much as I love being alone with you, I want to get out and have some fun!" He commented excitedly.

"What should we do?" I inquired.

"I don't know…walk around to try and find movie stars or something?" He joked.

"Please no. I'd rather sit through a lecture on the history of advertising." I laughed.

"Put on some shoes and let's just go somewhere." He picked me up and spun me around.

"Edward!" I squealed right as he put me down. I rushed off to get some shoes so he wouldn't do that again.

"Will you wear your ring while we're out today?" He called as I rummaged through my closet for some shoes.

"I don't want to lose it! I'm so afraid it will fall off and then you'll buy me another absurd ring." I laughed.

"Would you prefer I take it back and get you a smaller one?" He grinned as I walked out in some silver ballet flats.

"No…I'm just nervous about people finding out I'm engaged again…I hate saying that because I know you must hate it but I can't help it!" I huffed and looked over at my stove; he'd never turned the stove top burner on in the first place.

"I don't hate you saying that…sure I'm a little disappointed, but you have feelings just as much as I do. If you're uncomfortable wearing it right now then don't; maybe I'll buy you one of those dollar rings at the grocery store!" We both cracked up as he said that.

"I would definitely wear that one around." I grinned.

"Because it's cheap?" He laughed.

I nodded, "Of course. You have to remember I'm not used to having nicer things like your ring."

"Correction, it's your ring." He kissed me as we walked to the elevator.

"Why do you always drive?" I pondered aloud as we walked to his car.

"Because I do, it forces me to look at the road. If I stare at you for too long I get the insane urge to stop doing anything else and just…" He looked over at me and smiled very flirtatiously.

My face reddened as I sat down in his car. "In fact…thinking about that situation gives me a few ideas." He sat down in his car as well and leaned towards me.

"You said you wanted to get out so we didn't just spend all of our time in bed!" I spoke quickly.

"We can spend some time in my car," He grinned.

"No, drive!" I laughed and pushed him back.

* * *

We didn't really know what we wanted to do so he just drove around town, almost like he was exploring. "This may be a bit premature…but have you given any thought as to when you might want to uh…set a date?" He asked quietly as he turned a corner.

"Not really. A spring wedding would be nice…I don't want to get married here though. I'm so tired of this city." I groaned.

"How about England then? You said you wanted to go there anyways so why not get married there?" He offered.

"I like the sound of that!" I gasped happily.

"Of course…let's not jump the gun here…we still have to meet the other's parents and our parents have to meet…I guess we have to let them know we're engaged first though." He scratched his chin; it sounded like he didn't shave this morning.

"One question…do you want a big wedding? I don't know if I do or not because I don't know that many people I'd invite." I frowned lightly.

"You know, as long as I marry you, you can pick whatever kind of wedding you want." He grabbed my hand and held it firmly.

"Just to let you know, my parents are going to want to pay for it and I'm going to pay for my own dress." I said just loud enough for him to hear.

He stopped the car rather fast at a red light, "Bella, come on! If my family and I can help out then let us. My parents will be insulted if you don't let them help."

"Maybe that can be changed but I'm paying for my own dress." I replied firmly.

"Why? Everything I have will be yours anyways! Just let me pay for it." He pleaded as the light turned green.

I waited until we were through the light, "Edward…you've been an absolute gentleman the entire time I've known you…can't you please understand there are just some things I want to do for myself?"

He glanced over at me and huffed, "I can understand but I wish I didn't. I want you to look as beautiful as you want to and I don't want you to worry about how much it would cost."

"You said yourself I look beautiful no matter how I am…except when I'm sick," I grinned, "Just let me buy this one thing for myself."

He huffed like a five year old about to have a tantrum, "I don't see why you feel the need to show me how independent you can be. I know you can support yourself; I've seen that in you since I started to get to know you. You don't have to keep proving to me you can keep yourself alive, I know you can. You've done that for your whole life."

"Edward…this is just something I need to do. You won't let me buy you anything and I just want you to let me buy this one thing for myself." I looked down at the floor of his car.

"All right. Just cheer up darling Bella; I don't like seeing you sad." He squeezed my leg affectionately.

"Let's go to a park or something and just walk around," I suggested as we kept driving.

"Sounds good to me. I wish I'd brought a blanket to spread out or something." His eyes almost glazed over as if he started to daydream.

"Maybe it's a good thing you don't have one…whenever we're both laying down on a flat surface…things tend to escalate." I smirked. He laughed loudly and turned around another corner.

* * *

We got to a park I'd never been to but driven by numerous times; we got out and started to walk around soaking in the sun. "It's so nice to have the sun out like this all the time. It rains too much in England." He grinned as he shut his eyes with his head stretched up towards the sun. I just watched him as he seemed to shine in the sunlight.

His eyes opened slightly and he looked down at me, "I guess you must get sick of the sun being out all of the time, yeah?"

"I'm not out in the sun too much so I do actually enjoy when it's out. I'd rather it be sunny than cloudy and rainy." I shrugged.

"Listen…there's something else I wanted to ask you." He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"All right, I'm listening." I smiled; we'd stopped walking.

"How would feel about moving to England after we're married?" He drew back just barely.

* * *

WHOAAAAA. I know I shouldn't leave you guys hanging here, but unfortunately...I think I'll have to. : ( Unless I can somehow spend enough time on a computer to post this next weekend...but I'm not making promises.

As always,_** 5 REVIEWS PLEEEEASE**_. :]

***ShiningStarr***


	20. Chapter 20: We're Goin' Down, Down

HEYYYY AWESOME FICTIONEERS! So I know I've kept you waiting for these new chapters for a while and I apologize! My trip was awesome, I had a lot of fun, but last week was me trying to recuperate while I had to go back to work (I'm a waitress. Ugh). I'm going to try my best to get the next few chapters up soon, but I would appreciate some comments on them! :)

And without further ado (excepting the disclaimer...)

_**DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer would be appalled if I said I owned some of her characters...I don't, by the way. XD I would be appalled, however, if you said you owned this plot. roar.

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**_

Chapter 20: We're Goin' Down, Down

Brain freeze! Hold up, what did he say?

"What did you say?" I blinked rapidly.

He sighed lightly and looked at the ground, "Well I wanted to know if you'd want to move to England after we get married. My home is in England and I'm only a student here."

"Oh…" I felt like it was just a word that came out without realizing I'd said anything, but I heard myself say it.

Move to England? I know I said I was tired of California, but England was six thousand miles away from my entire life. "Edward this is…that is just a huge question. I…I can't even think of…That's just…it's so far away." I looked up at him with sad eyes.

His eyes mirrored mine, "I know…I realize this is a huge imposition to put in your way so early in a relationship. I just needed to put the idea out there for future reference."

"Edward…how long are you supposed to be here? Because we're probably going to need to get married before you leave." I pushed my hair back against my head, hard.

He pulled my hands away from my head and ran his thumbs over my knuckles, "I'm here for a year more at most. I have to graduate after I finish my studies here and write up a huge paper basically…after that…it's starting my life."

My head almost felt like it was spinning from this sudden news, "Oh my god…this is just so much to try and process…" I huffed as he put his arms around my shoulders.

"I know, maybe I should have asked you about this before I'd proposed." He huffed and let his head fall on top of mine.

"Well…there's no logical reason I can't move over there. It's just such a huge change and I'd be leaving my whole life behind." I clenched my eyes shut and couldn't imagine telling my three girls I was moving to England.

"You couldn't move here?" I laughed lightly.

He grinned and pulled his head back up, "I don't know…I have to wonder if I'd tire of California."

I nodded, "I'll just have to put a lot of thought into this. Geez, I can't imagine telling my parents I'm engaged and then telling them I'm moving six thousand miles away…they'd freak."

"Just try not to think about it too much right now. Let's keep walking and just relax, okay?" He smiled and gave me a wonderful kiss.

Two hours went by and we just walked around and talked about things. We agreed that I wouldn't be able to keep my engagement a secret for too much longer. One of us was bound to let something slip and I didn't want it to be found out that way. "It's just…when is a good time to bring up the fact that I'm engaged again? My friends will freak out even if I waited ten months to tell them…they'd probably understand why this happened so fast. You are quite the adorable Brit." I grinned in a cutesy way at him.

He grabbed my jaw and kissed me, "Are they that fond of me?"

"Yes, quite. Elisa is married and she thinks you're some sort of god." I laughed.

"Well-liked for looks. I can't escape from it," He grinned.

"Let's go back to my apartment. My feet are a little tired." I nudged him with my hip. His hand immediately snuck onto my waist and we almost power-walked to his car; we were ridiculous.

For the first time, someone got on the elevator with us so a make-out session was out of the question…for now. Once we'd reached my floor, we ran to my apartment and I giggled loudly when he bit my earlobe.

"What about you isn't completely adorable and irresistible?" He laughed in a low tone. I just smiled and slowly walked backwards to my room as he walked slowly towards me.

His shirt came off at the door and I immediately looked him over, smiling a satisfactory smile. "What is it with women and muscles?" He grinned and walked towards me.

"What is it with men and a woman's chest?" I countered with a sexy smile.

He grabbed at my shirt and started kissing my neck.

"Let's not leave any visible marks, shall we?" I tried not to giggle loudly to distract him.

"Don't you have to work today?" He questioned as his hands pushed my shirt up.

"No…I'm using a sick day in case I'm still a little sick." I sighed.

"Hopefully you aren't…otherwise this might not be such a good idea." He leaned up and winked at me.

"Hold on for one second…" I walked over to my closet and put my ring on, "I won't be able to keep this a secret for too much longer."

He laughed happily and fell back onto my bed with his arms outstretched. I fell down beside him and rolled over into his arms, "Where should we go for a honeymoon?"

He looked down at me with one eyebrow raised, "Maybe we should go to Paris…a city especially made for us."

"We'd never get out to see the city and you know it." I pointed out.

"I'm not _that_ much of an animal. Besides, I've never been there, neither have you, so we'll want to see as much as we can. If we want to make-out in public we'll just look like either tourists or natives." He shrugged and sat on top of my legs.

We stared at each other for some time and then suddenly we were too wrapped up in each other to remember what talking was.

* * *

He thought I was going to hyperventilate when I'd been laying on my side for five minutes without my breath even slowing down, "I'm fine…you just wear me out."

He laughed softly and kissed my shoulder, "If you faint I'll be forced to draw on your face with a sharpie." I laughed loudly and felt my breath slow down.

* * *

Later that evening, he was still in my apartment and I'd been thinking something over. "Edward," I spoke up and walked from the kitchen to my couch, "I think I'm going to quit tomorrow."

His body froze but his head turned in a snap, "Say that again?"

"I'm quitting tomorrow. I want to move in with you." My cheeks were flushing, I could feel it.

"Bella, don't joke with things like that…I'm still physically exhausted from earlier today," He flashed me a perfect smile.

"I'm not joking. Your argument makes sense: I'm not happy with what I'm doing and we spend so much time together it's pointless to have two apartments." I shrugged and sat down beside him.

"You really mean it Bella?" His smile was as wide as I'd ever seen it. I nodded with a smirk on my lips. He leaned over and gave me a slow, sensual, body-tingling, mind-numbing kiss, "You are absolutely perfect."

"No, I think you might be…" I sighed happily.

I felt his hand pick up my left hand; his fingers were slipping in and out between my fingers, "That ring looks beautiful on your hand."

"Don't ever tell me how much it was or I'll probably die of embarrassment." I giggled rather girlishly. He rolled his eyes.

* * *

I did go to work the next day, but when my shift was over I called my district manager to give her the news, "I feel like I've gone as far as I can go at this job. I want to try to do something a little bigger in my life." She tried to get me to stay but I told her I'd made up my mind. I said goodbye to the people I was working with and went straight to my yoga class with the girls.

Before we started, I gave them the news I'd quit, "I'm tired of working there so I'm going to look for a new job."

"Honey, how are you going to pay for your apartment?" Elisa questioned in a concerned tone.

"I have some money saved up, I'll be fine." I tried to fight back a smile so I wouldn't give it away I was hiding something.

Yvette was squinting at me and then her face lit up, "Oh my god! You're moving in with him aren't you?" Elisa and Margot's eyes went wide as they looked to me for conformation.

"I'm really horrible at keeping secrets," I laughed and felt my cheeks burning.

"But…you've only known him for a month!" Margot's jaw hung open.

"I know…but I really like this guy…everything about him is just so amazingly perfect. He's asked me about it several times and since I decided to quit…I figured I'd move in with him. He told me he could afford to take care of me…he bought me that dress and the shoes after all." I shrugged and rolled my mat out on the floor.

"Bells, are you absolutely sure about this? You're doing everything so much faster with this guy." Margot gave me a concerned look.

My dear sweet friends, I was so glad I knew them; my girls helped keep my feet on the ground.

"I'm sure about it. We spend most of our time together anyways," I shrugged again.

Elisa's face seemed to get longer in shock, "You mean you stay at his place a lot?"

"He stays with me…apparently his apartment is a wreck since we got back from Arizona." I grinned to myself.

"How many times a week?" She inquired.

"Um…since we've gotten back? He hasn't been there for maybe one night." I blushed.

"Bella, I'm not trying to be negative here, but are you sure you know what you're doing with this guy?" Elisa seemed to be the most motherly and concerned for me; it made me worry I was getting too carried away with him.

"Girls please…don't worry about me. This is something completely different from Sterling; I've never felt so in love with someone in my life…everything feels so perfect when I'm around him." I sighed happily and started stretching a little bit.

If I'd told them we were engaged, I was worried they might have freaked out worse and in a completely different way. I thought they'd be happy that I decided to have a relationship so intense with a man; instead, they were worried I was being too open with him or something. Announcing the engagement would have sent them off the edge and they would have thought I was, literally, going crazy.

The world of yoga didn't relax me as much today and when I got back to my apartment, I doubted my relationship with him. He came out of my bathroom and smiled until he saw the stressed look on my face, "What's wrong Bella?"

"I told my friends about me quitting my job and moving in with you…" Why did I feel like I wanted to cry?

"Did they not take the news well?" He asked softly and rubbed my back.

"They…they basically kept asking me if I was sure about it and if I was sure I knew what I was doing with you…" I grumbled and let him hold me against his chest.

"Do you usually move at a slower pace than you do with me, I take it?" He laughed just barely to try and lighten my mood.

"Let's just say if I had to compare our relationship to mine with Sterling…ours is the Hare and his and mine was the Tortoise." I laughed.

His eyes widened, "I have to admit…I've never gone so fast in a relationship either…but it feels so perfect with you."

"That's what I said but even when I did they still looked just as concerned. If I'd told them I was engaged I wondered whether or not they'd get mad at me." I huffed and felt tears surge into my eyes.

"Look…if you want to call off the engagement for now I'd understand. If it's putting too much pressure on you then I can wait." He pulled my head up to look at me.

His offer was extremely tempting; I wanted nothing more than to call it off and wait six months but in six months I knew we'd still be in as much love as we were now. The only reason I was so scared by this was because my friends were scared.

I shook my head, "No…if they can't accept us and what we have then I don't care what they have to say."

"Bella, don't give up your friends for me. You should listen to them; they're your friends because you trust each other and rely on each other's advice." He could sound so sage when he wanted to.

I laughed and hugged him, "The way you speak makes me certain of my decision to be with you. My friends just need some time to adjust to the way I am."

Right as I finished my sentence, my phone rang. It was Elisa. I picked it up, "Hey."

"Hey Bella, look…I wanted to apologize for acting so weird about you and Edward…from everything you've said he sounds like the perfect guy for you. We were all just shocked because you've been sort of the youngest sister of the group and we've been looking out for you so thoroughly…it's weird to see you acting like the oldest one." She laughed.

I smiled at her thoughts, "So are Yvette and Margot okay?"

"They're still recovering but they'll get there in time. I just wanted to call you because I know you'd probably be at home scared out of your mind doubting everything in your relationship." She explained expertly.

"Maybe I act differently when I'm away from you three, but I still think the same. Thanks for calling me Elisa." I smiled appreciatively.

"No problem. See you later." "See ya." I smiled and hung up.

"Feeling better?" He leaned down and kissed me.

"Yeah…I guess you could hear that?" I smiled.

"Yeah…and you know…this has almost been a reality check. I mean, I love being with you every night…but hearing all of this…I think we need to take a step back from where we are." He replied carefully.

"You mean…not staying over every night?" I clarified. He nodded.

"That's going to be kind of hard considering I agreed to move in with you." I reminded him.

"Oh…" His eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Yeah," I laughed.

* * *

Silly Edward, TRIX ARE FOR KIDS! hahaha. That's what my friend and I said whenever we said something was "silly". XD

Anyway, what do you think? Did they get engaged too soon? Should Bella have told them about moving in with him so soon after meeting him? Do you think her friends OVER reacted or UNDER reacted? IS EDWARD AN ALIEN?

okay...just kidding with that last question, haha. Let me know what you think and I'll try to get another chapter up tomorrow!

P.S. HAVE YOU SEEN THE ECLIPSE TRAILERS? HOLY CRAAAAP! I already have my tickets for the midnight show. XD

***ShiningStarr***


	21. Chapter 21: The Planning

HAHA. I went back and read one of my stories. Ohhh the grammar mistakes I missed in those chapters. Some made me cringe and other just made me laugh. XD I also wondered how that got a bajillion more reviews than this story is getting because I think this story has a wayyy better plot line and it infinitely better written. OH WELL. haha.

Thanks to the few of you who did review! I know I didn't get back to you guys, but I think everyone was pretty much just encouraging me to write! So...thanks! haha.

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_**DISCLAIMER: In an alternate universe, I am the author of Twilight. In this universe...I am not. I'm only the author of this plot.**_

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Chapter 21: The Planning

Edward and I had to rethink me moving in with him if he wanted to step back from how intense we were right now. If I didn't move in, I'd have to find another job pretty fast so I wouldn't spend all of my savings. If I did move in, we were going to have figure out how to keep ourselves from attacking each other at any chance we got.

Instead of calling one of my three main girls, I decided to have a chat with my mom. She always knew what to say and what was right to say, so I trusted her opinion more than anyone's. I probably trusted her opinion more than I trusted my own.

After I'd explained my situation, sans the engagement part, she thought for a minute, "Hmm…well your father and I moved in together after we'd been dating for three months so it's not that much more time. If you really love him then what's the hold up?"

"We feel like our relationship is too intense for it being so short. Edward and I were talking about taking a step back in our relationship but if we move in together that wouldn't be too easy." I sighed.

"Moving in with him might force you to take a step back. Having someone with you most of the day and living with them are two different things. Once you start living around each other, you might feel less desire towards him." She didn't seem at all phased she was having this conversation with her daughter; what could I say, she was a Sixties and Seventies child.

That conversation lasted a long while before I went back upstairs to talk to Edward; he'd since cleaned his apartment so when I came up he let me right in anxious to hear what I'd say.

"To make a long talk short…she said moving in with you might make us take a step back. We'll be living together so that will probably lessen our desire for each other…I don't know, I feel more confused." I groaned as he wrapped his arms around me.

"It's up to you if you want to move in; you don't have to just because I want you to." He shrugged and smiled at me.

His maturity far succeeded my own and sometimes it was all I could do to try and keep up with him.

"I don't know…either way I'm going to be in the same bed as you every night." I laughed and made him laugh too.

"Try it out then. Move up here for a week or so and see how you like it. If you can't stand living in here with me you'll still have your apartment!" He laughed lightly and ran his hands down my back.

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe I should start packing now." I smirked.

"Not yet…there're a few things we haven't discussed," He winked; at such a close distance, his wink almost made my heart stop.

* * *

That very same night, my bag was on the floor by his closet and we were lying in bed together. Surprisingly, our clothes were on and hadn't even come off in the three hours I'd been there already. Something just felt different; maybe it was feeling like we were living together that lessened our urgency to be together.

"It's weird just being here in this bed with you…you know with nothing happening." He grinned.

I laughed quietly, "I was thinking something along the same lines. It's nice just to be here with you…just being around you makes my life seem more at peace."

He rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"I'm being serious!" I laughed and sat up.

"I didn't say you weren't, my eyes just roll like that sometimes. Please don't be mad at me!" He rolled over and hugged me around my waist.

This moment was just bliss for me and it wasn't even that different from anything we'd ever done. He was just hugging me and I was sitting up just smiling down at him. "You know, I was thinking about wedding plans vaguely the other day…I think I'd rather have a smaller wedding," He looked up at me for any sign of conformation.

"Really? Great!" I laughed happily, "That's one checkmark on the list of about five thousand of them." I groaned loudly and leaned back hard enough to whack my head on his headboard.

"Oh baby, I know that had to hurt!" He sat up and kissed the back of my head.

My eyes watered just slightly, "Yeah a little bit…I'll have to be more careful next time I decide to lay down."

He let out a laugh and kissed my lips, "What about a church?"

"Say what?" I asked confused.

"Do you want to get married in a church or a park or what?" He kept smiling at me. "Oh um…I don't know that I have a preference. I just want you to be there." I shrugged with a smirk.

His eyes narrowed but he was still smiling, "You're a strange girl…aren't you supposed to have this planned out?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes, "Okay maybe I used to think about it but how are you supposed to know what you want your wedding to look like when you're ten years old or something? No, I really don't know what I want it to look like. Should we get a wedding planner?"

It was almost a hypothetical question but he answered, "Probably. Neither of us will want to have to deal with all of the arrangements. I just want you to have the wedding you want."

The look he gave me almost made me feel guilty for telling him he couldn't help to pay for the wedding. "You have got to stop giving me that look Edward! Why should I feel bad about trying to uphold my family's honor?" I scoffed.

He grinned and pulled my legs down until I was lying down, "I want you to have the wedding you want to have, and price shouldn't be an obstacle for you."

"It is for the majority of the American population." I pointed out.

"I'm not American, Isabella." He reminded me.

I rolled my eyes and smacked my forehead, "I'll have to ask my parents. If they won't let you help…just tell your parents they can pay for our honeymoon or something. My dad probably wouldn't want to pay for that."

He sat on my legs and smiled down at me, "A honeymoon with you…I can't imagine how great that will be."

"Probably not that different from now," I replied bluntly.

"Because we have sex every night?" He offered; I nodded.

His eyes shut and he tilted his head back, "That's rather true actually…maybe we should try to stay off of each other?"

"Like we'd do that." I scoffed.

"Maybe at least until we have a date set. I don't know how long I could last without your love after I've discovered just how absolutely fantastic it is," He grinned impishly.

Once again, he succeeded in making me blush. "I don't know why I just thought of this…but a little while ago I wondered about us having children…what do you think?" I asked softly.

His eyes trailed over to the bed and he leaned over me, "Do you want kids?"

"I don't know…if we had any…well, not to say having one wouldn't be wonderful…but I feel like it would distract me from you. I feel bad for saying that but it's true; I'm pretty content with just loving you for right now." I sat up and kissed him.

"I don't think I could handle a kid within the next four years or so…maybe when I'm thirty," He grinned and kissed me back.

Weirdly enough, we just kissed for a while and went to bed; was my mother right? Were we already losing our drive for each other? Maybe we didn't feel the need to be together like that because we knew we were going to be together anyways. Of course we both assumed he would be at my apartment every night, but it was almost a surprise when he'd show up at my door. Now…I knew I was going to see him when I woke up, I knew he'd be there if either one of us left and came back.

Before he turned out the light for us to go to sleep, he stared at me for a minute like he was trying to capture the moment in his head or something. When the light was finally off, the only light came through his window, making for an interesting night scene if anything were to happen.

When I woke up, I smelled pancakes coming from the hallway. I got up, brushed my hair and my teeth, and proceeded to his living room, "I thought you said you couldn't cook anything?"

He looked over at me and grinned, "Just add water pancakes, you've got to love them." I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his stomach as he flipped a pancake over.

"When you act so cute like this…god you make me want to…I don't know, do something better than sex! It's so frustrating!" He laughed and wrapped his foot back around my leg. I giggled and leaned my head against his back, just between his shoulder blades.

"A good kiss could suffice." I offered. He almost spun to turn around and kissed the heck out of me for a good five minutes.

He'd burnt a pancake when he turned back around, but he said he liked them well done. "Sit down and eat before I take you right here in the kitchen," He growled playfully in my ear and nudged me over to the table.

I raised my eyebrows at him and grinned, "You have a very powerful drive don't you?"

"Only with you, my love," He sighed happily and handed me a plate with four pancakes on it.

After we'd eaten breakfast, he pulled out some large book and began to read it; I just laid my head in his lap and took a short nap as he stroked my hair.

* * *

When I woke up, his book was closed on the coffee table and his head had fallen back against the couch.

Seriously, what were we going to do all day if neither of us worked? Being with him was great and all…but it was going to get boring after a while. Watching movies was fun, but what happens when we watch all of them? When we run out of conversation, what would there be to say?

His hand ran down my side and made me shiver.

"We're going to die of boredom." I pointed out.

He burst out laughing, "You're hysterical sometimes."

"So you say…I just don't want to end up staying here every day with absolutely nothing to do." I commented.

"Nor do I. Maybe we could go on another road trip?" His eyes lit up with that suggestion.

"No because you know I can't pay for a whole lot extra and you'd end up paying for everything and then I'd feel like a cheap date or something," I frowned.

"I'm going to spoil you to death when we're husband and wife you know…" He reminded me.

"Yes I know, but we're not married yet." I grinned.

"Why don't we look for a wedding planner today?" He gasped.

"Sounds like a good idea. How do we do that?" I wondered aloud.

"Internet, hello!" He kissed my ear.

"Do you have a computer?" I was mildly surprised.

"A laptop." He nodded and stood up to get it.

He came back with an expensive looking piece of equipment and I had to wonder how much money he actually had and where he got it from; maybe his parents were rich? He opened it up and the screen popped up, "All right…do you want a high-profile planner or someone more local?"

I sighed as I thought, "Uh…well someone high-profile would choose a lot of expens-"

"Local then," He grinned and typed something else in.

"All right, I have a list of some wedding planners…wow, it even has pictures!" He laughed amused.

I sat up and leaned my head against his shoulder to see the screen, "How about that red-headed woman?"

"Why her?" He turned his head and smiled at me.

"She seems down to earth…the kind of woman who will give you a great wedding without making you spend too much." I laughed.

He grumbled, "I'm going to take you to Vegas and marry you if you don't stop talking about not spending so much money." I giggled loudly and hugged his arm.

We settled on a woman who looked like she was in her early sixties but still dyed her hair blonde. We made an appointment online for the next day at noon.

"I'm glad we have that done. You know she's going to ask us when we want to have this wedding. Also, once we do start planning this, are you sure you'll be able to keep this from your friends?" He set his laptop on the coffee table and put his arm around me as he leaned back.

"Maybe we can have it in September?" I suggested.

"Whenever you want to." He shrugged.

"Do you care at all when we get married or are you going to let me choose everything?" I shifted to turn sideways and smile at him.

"Like I've said before, I just want you to be there." He kissed my jaw.

"I said that," I grinned.

"I said it before you did!" He laughed and pushed me back onto the couch.

"Let's have an Alice In Wonderland wedding!" He joked.

"Too late, a celebrity couple already used that theme." I laughed.

"Nightmare Before Christmas?" He smirked.

"How about no? I don't intend on wearing a red wig with a patch dress. You would look nice in a striped tux though." I smiled happily.

"What about a 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' theme?" He suggested and kissed my neck.

"Interesting…but too much ivy. I want something simple but elegant…which is about what half the women getting married want. I just don't know, we could get married in a hallway for all I care!" I laughed.

He sat up away from me and a huge smile broke out on his face, "Let's elope!"

* * *

SHAZAAAAAAM. haha. How about that? Wouldn't you love to elope with Edward? I know I would. WOOHOOOO. lol.

Oh, and last chapter I said they'd known each other for 1 month or something? I think it's been more like 2 or 3 at this point. Crazy me just typed whatever I thought of in my weird little head. XD

P.S. Do any of you have quizilla accounts? I'm thinking of posting my other stories on that website since you can write things about non-fictional characters (a.k.a. real people). I've written quiiiiiiite a few other things that I can't post on here for that very reason. XP

Also, _**PLEeeEEEeEeEeEEeeeEEEEASE REVIEW**_! I'll try to get another chapter up in a few days and then after that I think we'll be caught up? (Maybe, haha. It might be 1 more chapter and then we're back to normal)

***ShiningStarr***


	22. Chapter 22: Now for the Hard Part

First item on the agenda: major, EPIC shout out to **eppo**. he/she gave me a really awesome constructive review on my story and i loved it. even if you guys don't necessarily like a certain way i do something, let me know and maybe it'll help me improve. reviews aren't JUST to say how much you liked someone's story. it's also to help the author improve their writing technique. :)

2nd item: I love all of you who continually review. _**motherduckatschool. Rose N Valerie. Cullen4life1996**_. you guys rule. i think i've told you something similar to that. haha.

3rd item: _**DISCLAIMER: If I were Stephenie Meyer, I probably wouldn't be writing stories to publish for free on here...maybe. haha. Since I'm not the amazing Stephenie Meyer, I know you will believe me when I say I only own this plot.**_

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Chapter 22: Now for the Hard Part

"Hah hah, very funny." I rolled my eyes and stayed lying down.

"Well, we both just want each other to be there to get married…and you're worried about what your friends will say when you tell them you're engaged. Let's just elope!" He sounded somewhat serious as he spoke.

"As great as that may sound, I'd be killed by five different people if they couldn't see me get married." I laughed.

He nodded, "As would I…maybe only two people or so."

I grinned and sat up, "Well, why don't we just have a small wedding with a few people?"

"Relatives would demand my parents kill me if I didn't let them come…" He sighed.

"Sounds like we have to have a formal wedding then," I nodded.

"Are you okay with that? The eloping option is still out there," He grinned jokingly. I shoved him lightly and laughed.

* * *

The next day after we'd come out of our meeting with the wedding planner, it was like I could only see the images in my head. I'd thought it was going to be the most dreadful hour ever, but I'd enjoyed it. Hearing all of Joanne's ideas made me absolutely giddy. "I can't believe I've never thought about all of those things she said. I mean, this is absolutely incredible! A Victorian styled wedding? That would be perfect for us!" I gasped over-joyed.

"Except for the fact that the Victorians were very prude about sexual behavior, especially out of wedlock," He pointed out with a grin on his face.

"Well that age is over and I want to wear something with lace!" I grinned happily and hugged him as we walked to his car.

"So are you going to wait a few months to tell your friends? If you do, we'll probably still have a few months before the wedding so they would assume we'd done all the planning within that time span," He commented as we wove through traffic.

"I don't know, they'll know something is up if I don't tell them soon. I'll just have to tell them very gently." I shrugged and tried to imagine their reactions.

* * *

Later that week the four of us met up for lunch and I decided to tell them after making them promise not to freak out.

"Okay, girls," I sighed to try and relieve my nerves, "I want to tell you something, but you have to promise you won't completely flip out." They all narrowed their eyes in confusion but they all said they promised. "You may want to restrain yourselves…" I looked at all three of them as they urged me to go on.

I told myself to calm down and just tell them, but that was easier said than done. "Okay…" I huffed, "So the other day Edward and I were out together…" I looked up at Elisa and her eyes widened in anticipation. Yvette still looked confused and Margot had a look in her eye like she already knew what I was going to say. "We were out together and uh, we got to talking and well…he gave me this," I pulled the ring out of my pocket and showed it to them.

They all leaned over the table and Margot grabbed it out of my hand, "Holy…this must have thirty rocks in it!"

I blushed in embarrassment.

"This is a really nice ring, is he rich?" Yvette laughed.

I nodded, "His parents are at least."

"I can't believe it, which finger does it fit?" Margot handed it back to me with a huge grin.

One more deep breath and I slid it on my fourth finger of my left hand. Even though Margot had already guessed it, all three of their pairs of eyes widened to the size of quarters and they all started to shout in jubilee. I had expected they would go into a rampage and tell me how stupid I was being; instead I just sat there as they all spoke in high-pitched voices and I could barely understand a word.

Elisa's voice was the first to go back to her normal octave, "Holy crap! When and where did this happen?"

"We were watching a performance and after it was over he just got out of his seat and kneeled down in front of me…there were so many people watching!" I blushed just recalling it.

"Wait, what kind of performance? Do you mean-" Yvette took in a large amount of air in a short period of time. "Did he propose after you two saw Phantom of the Opera?" Margot gasped in disbelief.

I laughed and nodded. She fell back into her chair seemingly overwhelmed, "That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard ever!" I grinned as the other two kept chattering about it.

"Wait, so none of you are freaked out that we're engaged after a month?" I scoffed; I'd expected some backlash.

They all looked at each other and eventually laughed. "Bella…you're obviously completely infatuated with this man. That's been pretty obvious since we found out who he was. After meeting him and seeing how you two look at each other…there's nothing to question." Elisa grabbed my arm and shook it.

"So none of you are going to yell at me and tell me I'm being an idiot?" I clarified. They shook their heads 'no'.

"Just make sure we're your bridesmaids!" Yvette laughed.

I groaned and proceeded to laugh, "Of course."

"Wait, have you set a date yet?" Margot was still very dramatic.

"Not a certain day but we'd like to get married in September perhaps." I shrugged as I started daydreaming about our theme again.

"Oh, that'll be beautiful! Where will you hold the ceremony?" Elisa got all dreamy-eyed like she was remembering her wedding, which was astounding.

"We haven't figured that out yet…" I sighed.

"Do you have a theme in mind?" Yvette smiled.

"We met with a wedding planner a few days ago…she offered the suggestion of a Victorian style wedding?" I threw it out there expecting it to be ripped up.

"That would suit you pretty well…" Margot smiled at me like I was a cute baby or something.

"I thought so too…" A thought came to me, "I guess I need to go dress shopping with you three huh?"

Their eyes bulged and they all started shouting excitedly again.

"You don't want one of those horrible poufy dresses do you? The ones that have a mile of tulle around them?" Elisa grimaced.

"Oh good grief no!" I laughed, "Could you see me with a huge dress like that? No way…I want something…old-fashioned looking, but made to look modern, you know?" They all nodded and started thinking.

"I'm assuming you're going to try and spend as little money as possible, right?" Yvette smiled at me. I nodded, "Yep. Edward keeps telling me he wants to help out and he knows his family will want to but I don't want them to and neither will my parents."

"If you can have a wonderful lavish wedding, why not let them help?" Margot groaned.

"Because it's a matter of personal pride; I want my family and myself to have this one thing for us before he uses the excuse of being my husband to buy me anything he wants." I sighed.

"And this depresses you because?" Elisa was trying not to laugh.

I smiled and they all laughed softly, "I'm just used to taking care of myself, you all know that. It's weird for me to have someone in my life offering to pay for everything."

"Yeah, I guess I had some adjusting to do after I got married," Elisa looked down at her wedding ring and grinned.

We all rolled our eyes because we knew how completely obsessed Elisa was with her husband Luke. "Yeah because instead of you paying for everything you bought, he did!" I joked. She gasped dramatically and reached over to try and mess up my hair.

"Stop it!" I squealed and moved back in my chair.

After lunch ended, they took me out to start looking at dresses. "I just don't know what I want it to look like!" I sighed as we walked down a street to a shop Margot said she knew of.

"You will know it when you see it and if you can't find one exactly like what you want you can always have it altered or something," Yvette suggested.

"I guess so…this just seems like a huge task." I groaned and grabbed at my hair.

"Don't worry about it. You have several months you know," Elisa finally got that rub on my hair.

We walked in and were immediately greeted by a woman in her forties asking who the bride-to-be was. I was pointed at and she immediately pulled me back into the shop and started asking me all kinds of questions about what I wanted my dress to look like. "Well we haven't settled on our theme quite yet, but I want something with a Victorian look, but also I want it to look modern." I gave her a hesitant look as she thought for a moment.

"I think I know what you might be looking for, just a moment," She went back into another room for a few minutes to look for a dress.

Right as the girls began to chat, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and flipped it open upon seeing Edward's name flash on the screen, "Hello."

"Hello there, how are you doing today?" He laughed.

The girls all looked at me and instantly knew who I was talking to. "I'm fine, I'm out with my girls shopping a little bit." They gave me looks and quietly hissed not to let him know what exactly I was looking for.

"I thought you said you couldn't spend any extra money!" He laughed.

"I didn't say I was buying! I'm just looking," I shook my head as I grinned.

"Good, otherwise I might go out and buy you something." He threatened.

"Oh stop it!" I couldn't keep myself from smiling and I noticed all three of them were now around me trying to listen to my conversation.

"Listen, our conversation is being tapped by three people right now so I'll talk to you when I get back." I ducked away from them and smirked.

He laughed, "All right, see you later then."

The woman came back out and had a gorgeous dress in her arms. She held it up by the hanger and we all gasped, none louder than Margot who was still being dramatic.

"Would you like to try it on? I guessed your size, which I'm very good at!" She let me hold it up and I nodded a little bit too eagerly.

She showed me to a huge dressing room and closed the door for me. I pulled off my clothes and pulled the dress on, perfect fit of course. There was a large vanity mirror that touched the floor and the ceiling; I stood there and stared at myself wishing my mother could have been here to see it. I took out my phone and took a picture of it; I sent it to her email and hoped she'd get it soon enough.

"Bella, hurry up and come out!" Elisa knocked loudly on the door.

"Come in, the door isn't locked!" I laughed.

They immediately threw the door open and all stopped upon entering the room, "Bella, you're an angel!" Margot all but started crying.

"Margot, would you calm down already!" Yvette laughed and gave her a rough hug.

The woman came in with a few more dresses in her arms, "You look so beautiful in that dress! I hope you don't mind me bringing a few others to try? I took another look around and found these for you." She hung them up and shut the door again.

They all went out as I put the second dress on. After I put it on I realized this was going to be harder than I thought. This one looked great too, but I didn't like the small gap at the bottom of the dress; this was a wedding not a prom. I called them back in and they went crazy over this one too.

"Bella, you make everything look amazing! Why haven't you worn stuff like this before?" Yvette exclaimed as she ran her hand over the lace on my back.

"Because all I do is go to work and go to yoga class, what need did I ever have for stuff like this?" I laughed and took a picture of this dress to send to my mother as well.

I put the third one on and groaned, "This one looks good too…" T

hey came in without knocking and agreed with me, "You look perfect in all three of these."

"I still have another one to try on. How am I going to pick one?" I huffed and turned around in front of the mirror.

"Price most likely," Elisa laughed.

"True…I haven't even looked at the prices." I was almost afraid to see how much the dresses were.

"Your parents will want to help pay you know." Margot reminded me; she had finally calmed down.

"Yeah," I looked at the price of this dress: four hundred and fifty dollars.

"This place carries cheaper dresses…which is why I brought you here." Margot grinned and hugged me from behind.

They all stood behind me as we all looked in the mirror. "Total 'Sex and the City' moment." Yvette laughed.

We all started laughing as I pulled the fourth one out of the bag it was in, "Oh my god…" They all left the room so I could put it on, but once I had I realized I had four dresses that all looked amazing and this one just made my decision harder. It was the simplest in my opinion and it was sort of what I'd had in mind.

"Girls come in!" I said quickly. They rushed in and all looked at me in awe.

"Oh, Bella, you have to get that one." Yvette sighed happily.

"You think so?" I turned around and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Yes," Elisa and Margot chimed in at the same time.

I took the picture and sent it to my mom hoping she'd choose the same one.

* * *

Oh my gosh. I seriously can't wait until I'm trying on wedding dresses. I know that sounds overly-romantic and anti-feminist or whatever, but I'm going to have wayyy too much fun trying on dresses. Anyone watch "Say 'Yes' to the Dress"? I want to go to Kleinfeld's and have Diane be my consultant. I LOVE DIANE. haha.

***A/N: Due to fanfiction being INCREDIBLY annoying about not allowing any hyperlinks in chapters (no matter what code i write in the html format XP) i will just post link up on my profile page. UGH. I really don't want to, but I'm not going to type the links here all spaced out. GR.

Anyway, what'd you guys think? Did anything in particular catch your eye? Like, "wait a minute...that's not right..." No? Well, if you didn't catch it, it will be revealed in the next chapter I think. XD Ohhhh, I know I'm messing with all of you, I'm sorry! haha.

**PLEEEASE REVIEW. Can I try for 10 for this chapter? Please? :D _I know there are people out there reading this. I CAN SEE YOU._ MWAHAHA.**

P.S. Anyone excited for Toy Story 3? I'm going to see it tomorrow. WOOOOOOOOOO.

ShiningStarr


	23. Chapter 23: Crazy Days

What's up awesome people? Sorry I didn't update sooner in the week! I've been busy not being on FanFiction. HAHA.

Oh, I thought I'd let every know that I set up an account to do some "Beta" reading. It's a relatively new concept for me even though I know it's been on for a while. So, check out my Beta profile if you'd like me to do some beta-ing for you.

P.S. Thank you for everyone who reviews! I think I got the most reviews on this chapter (which wasn't a lot compared to the amount of reviews I've gotten on other stories, but I will not be picky. I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU ALL! XD)

P.S.S. Only one of you guessed correctly to my question I posed to you at the end of the last chapter concerning this chapter. Also, only one of you guessed, hahahaha.

_**DISLCLAIMER: Twilight and it's vampiric glory belong to Stephenie Meyer. This plot and all it's human-y splendor belong to meeeee.**_

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Chapter 23: Crazy Days

I put the fourth dress on hold and went back to Edward's apartment; I couldn't call it our apartment yet since we hadn't made anything official.

As I closed the door, I heard a floor board creak behind me. I grinned and turned around right as he grabbed my waist. I screamed nonetheless and hugged him, "Edward, don't do that!"

He kissed my neck several times and laughed, "So did you find anything you liked?"

I nodded, "I'm not telling you what though. I'm paying for it myself if I decide to get it."

"Still torturing me," He sighed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Why do you _want_ to buy everything for me?"

"Because I love you and I want to spoil you." He smiled at me and it still made my knees lose feeling.

I just leaned my head against his neck and shut my eyes to soak in this moment. "I can't believe I'm so lucky as to have someone like you in my life," he spoke softly into my ear.

"Oh stop it," I grinned.

"Seriously…after the girls I dated back home…I don't know how I was ever interested in any of them…they were all selfish and only worried about material things and outer appearances. You don't care about that kind of stuff; it over-joys me that you're the one I'm in love with." He placed a pretty firm kiss on my lips which sent my head into a tizzy.

When he pulled his head up, my eyes rolled back to where they were supposed to be and he was smiling away at me. "Edward, you've got to stop looking at me like that or I'm going to end up going crazy over my love of you!" I laughed girlishly and kissed him.

He pulled his head up again, "Well I certainly don't want you going crazy on me…but I'm glad to know you love me as much as I love you."

I shook my head and grinned like crazy, "I told the girls today…they were happy for me."

"Oh really? Great!" He picked me up in a hug and spun me around once.

"Yeah, they were in awe of the huge rock piece on my finger," I held my hand out to the side and we both looked at it.

"So when do we tell our parents?" He asked as he set me down.

"I suppose we'll have to soon…" I sighed as I thought.

"How about we call them right now?" He suggested.

I gasped as I realized I'd sent all those pictures to my mother and I hadn't even told her I was engaged. "Ohhhhh sh*t!" I exclaimed and dug my phone out of my purse.

"What?" He took a step back and gave me a confused look.

"Sorry, I just realized I did something incredibly stupid!" I ran back to his room and shut the door as the phone rang.

He knocked but I told him not to come in.

When she picked up the phone, she sounded surprised I was calling, "Well hello Bella, it's nice to hear from you so soon after our last conversation! Did you finally move in with him?"

"Yes!" I laughed in relief; she obviously hadn't checked her email yet, "Yes I moved in with him a few days ago…it's going amazingly!"

"Have you two found a better rhythm with each other?" She tried not to be too obvious with what she was asking but I still found it a little embarrassing.

"Yeah…we're perfectly happy just being next to each other. I mean…sure there have been times when we felt the tension but knowing we're living together kind of lessens the urgency I guess…" I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with my mother.

"So do you think you'll make the move permanent?" She inquired curiously.

"Probably so." I laughed.

"Oh, mom?" I asked nervously.

"Yes?" She laughed.

"Uh…I guess there's one other thing I should tell you…um…about two weeks ago…Edward proposed." I inhaled sharply as I waited for her response.

"Already?" She sounded absolutely astounded, "But you've only known each other for two months or so!"

"I know…but…mom everything about him is so amazing! We fit together so well, like two sides of a coin." I laughed.

"Well, Bella, are you sure you know him that well?" Her voice was becoming continually worrisome.

"Yes, we know almost everything about each other," I replied encouragingly.

"Do you know every mood he has? How he acts when he's upset or angry or discouraged?" She prodded.

"Well…we've never had any reasons to be upset with each other…" Actually, Edward could have exploded in rage when he saw Sterling in front of me with an engagement ring.

"I just don't want you to jump into a relationship before knowing him completely sweetheart. You have to know my concern as your mother." She sighed.

"I know…but you don't have to worry about this. He's had several moments when he could have been upset with me but he never once raised his voice or anything!" I argued.

"Honey, I'm sorry I'm being so negative. I really am happy for you; I just want you to make sure you're doing the right thing. Weren't you engaged two months ago?" She tried to sound happier.

"Yes…but that was a mistake. Sterling wasn't right for me, I never felt a fraction of what I feel with Edward as when I was with him. Besides, Sterling had commitment issues and his temper could really flare if he was set off. Believe me mom; I know Edward is the man for me." I said in a tone of finality. "Well you do sound awfully protective of him…and the way you sound when you talk about being near him…it reminds me of when I was around your father after we'd first met." She laughed.

After our conversation had ended and we'd hung up, I opened the door and found him in his kitchen leaning his head onto the counter.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked as I stood in the hallway.

He stood up and looked over at me, "Are you?"

"What?" I laughed.

"The way you freaked out and ran back to my room worried me…" He walked over to me and put his hand on my forehead. "Edward, I'm fine…I just realized I'd sent my mom pictures of some things I didn't need to yet and I didn't want to freak her out." I laughed and pulled his hand off of my head and into my hands.

"Are you sure that's all? That was a long conversation you know," He kissed both of my hands.

I nodded, "I told her I'm engaged though."

"You did?" His eyes lit up and he pushed me against the wall to kiss me.

"Now I have to call my parents," He laughed as I bit his bottom lip to keep him from getting too far away. I released him and he dashed over to the coffee table to pick up his phone, "Hopefully they won't be too upset…like I said, they have high standards for me. Just try not to be offended if they're mad because you're American or something."

I laughed and nodded, "All right. You don't think they'll ex-communicate you if you tell them though, do you?"

"No, they're extremely proud of their only son. Disowning him would embarrass them more than it would me. Plus, once they meet you they're bound to think you're as adorable as any British girl." He walked over to me as his phone rang.

"Hello mum! Is dad there? I want to tell you both something," He laughed happily and held the phone away from his mouth as he kissed me. I grinned and hugged him. "Yes, hello dad! I wanted to tell you and mum something!" He paused as his parents said something. "No, I'm not quitting school or anything like that!" He laughed, "No I promise!" They said something louder and he rolled his eyes, "No I'm not coming home for the rest of the year, I can't do that-Listen! I've found an absolutely lovely girl, her name is Isabella." He waited as they spoke again. "No she's absolutely incredible, way better than any girl I've ever dated." He waited to see if they spoke again but they seemed to know what was coming. "Mum, dad…Bella and I are engaged." He announced happily.

There seemed to be a lot of yelling on the other end of the phone but it sounded like it was between the parents and not at Edward. "They do this all the time," He laughed quietly. The voices became more agreeable and eventually they sounded congratulatory. "Thanks-" He seemed to be interrupted, "When can you meet her? Well…" He looked at me and I shrugged. "Well I don't know if I can get any more time off from studying and all. I already used my two weeks of vacation earlier." He wrapped his arms around me comfortingly and I smiled to myself.

"Dad!" He laughed, "Can you do that? Are you sure I won't get in trouble?" He laughed harder and squeezed my shoulder, "Dad that's great. I'll have to make sure Bella is okay with that though…All right, I'll call you back in a little while…thanks, bye!"

He picked me up a little ways off the ground and kissed me so hard. "They're going to love you." He laughed happily and pushed his fingers into my hair to kiss me again.

"Edward, clam down," I laughed and put my arms around his neck. "I can't…this is too much of a day for me…they want me to bring you to London so they can meet you." He grinned and kept me up in his arms.

My jaw dropped as he hugged me tightly, "Wait, I get to go to London?"

He let my feet back on the ground and nodded, "Yeah, they said they're paying for you to come and you can't say no. Seriously…you can't say no. They'll be offended if you try to pay your own way."

I groaned, "Fine. When are we going?"

"I have to call them back and tell them you said you're coming…they'll work out all the travel arrangements and send us the tickets when they get them…so hopefully we'll be there in two weeks or so." He looked down at me and kissed the top of my head.

I sighed happily, "I'm going to London…oh my gosh…are we going to be there for very long?"

"A week, which is more than enough for me; I'll be glad to be at home for a bit but London is so dreary this time of year. You'll enjoy it more than I will." He laughed and ran his hands up and down my back.

"You're picturing something in your head, aren't you?" I smirked at him.

"A few things…I'm wondering if you can guess what." He laughed.

"I know! You're picturing a large chocolate cake on the table and just as you're about to eat some, I smash your face in it!" I held back my laughs by biting my lips together.

He narrowed his eyes at me and pulled me extremely close to his body, "You wouldn't dare."

"Maybe I would…it would be kind of funny to see you with frosting all over your face and in your hair." I burst out laughing.

He kneeled down and put his shoulder into my stomach; I was hauled into the air rather fast so I yelped and grabbed onto him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you back to my room so I can show you what I was picturing," He smacked my thigh.

"Oh you mean you were picturing cleaning your room while I sat on your bed and watched?" I joked.

Somehow he swung me down into his arms which made me squeal and grab onto him tighter than before. "Not quite," He had an almost malicious grin on his lips which made me wonder how tired I was going to be in an hour.

* * *

He was absolutely crazy once the door was shut. My mind felt constantly overloaded and it was all I could to try and keep up with him. At one point I'd thought we were still standing up only to find out I was actually on his bed with my shirt already pulled off.

I was absolutely drenched in sweat and I was coughing because my throat was so dry. He seemed positively exasperated and for good reason. His eyes were shut hard and his back was heaving.

"Edward…you okay?" I coughed again as I managed to place my hand on his arm. He nodded and pulled my hand underneath himself to his heart. "Honey…your heart is going so fast," I pulled in a drag of air and leaned against his arm.

He nodded, "I'm…fine. Just…need to…breathe." He tried to laugh but ended up coughing.

I pulled myself up and pulled my clothes on to go to his fridge and get him a cold bottle of water. My legs felt like anchors as I walked back to his room; he'd managed to sit up against his headboard and had his arms over his head. I laughed very shortly and opened the bottle for him. He drank half of it in about seven seconds and handed it back to me, "Sorry…" I was still catching up on my own breath so I tried to do some deep breathing as I lie back down on the bed.

He looked down at me and smiled, "Does that help?" I nodded as I shut my eyes to concentrate on my breathing. He moved down onto the bed and mimicked my breathing rhythm. After a few minutes we were both breathing normally and feeling a great need to sleep.

"I feel like I should take a shower…" He sighed.

"Me too…" I sat up and opened my eyes.

"Let's save water and shower together," He grinned.

"Your shower isn't that big you know," I reminded him.

He laughed, "We just had the craziest sex ever and you're worried about bumping into me in the shower?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned, "Shut up."

He grabbed my hand as he stood up to walk over to his bathroom, "Come on."

"As weird as this may sound…I don't like being in the shower with other people…" I looked at the floor as I spoke.

"Oh, Bella, please! You're embarrassed to be in a shower with me after what we just did?" He laughed and sat back down.

"Edward, please," I pouted slightly; "it's just a personal thing, okay?"

He sighed in defeat, "All right, I get it. Don't fret, my love."

I smiled in appreciation and kissed him, "Do you ever get upset?"

He laughed, "Hardly ever…but never with you…you make me feel so happy and peaceful. Apparently I'm only mad when someone is rude to you like that waiter in the café!"

I groaned in embarrassment, "Such a sweet gesture." He laughed loudly and kissed me before going to take a shower.

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All right, I PROMISSSSEEE you're going to meet Edward's parents soon. Some of you have asked me several times when the parental units are going to show up. So I'm here to tell you it will be SOON. :)

Also, I know this wasn't much of a cliff hanger, but there's just mounting excitement/tension/anxiety with things that are about to happen. You just have to wait for the, proverbial, balloon to burst! haha.

Oh, P.S. did those links I posted on my profile page (for the dresses) work? I hadn't tested those links out in ages so I didn't know whether or not they were still valid. LET ME KNOW. :)

_**As always, PLEASE REVIEW**_. If I get 10 reviews before Sunday I'll post two chapters before next Wednesday. Wouldn't you like that? HMMM?

***ShiningStarr***


	24. Chapter 24: Habituating

All right so, I haven't updated for the past 2 weeks because I didn't get 5 reviews. It just bums me out and I don't have motivation to post when I don't get responses from you guys. You know? Authors need love too! lol.

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Twilight, I just own this plot.**_

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Chapter 24: Habituating

My feet pulled me out onto the tiled floor but I had my arm firmly around his so I wouldn't get separated and lost, "I'm so nervous Edward."

"Why? It's not like you're going to be killed or anything!" He laughed and put his arm around my waist.

He led me down to the baggage claim and I just smiled as I heard hundreds of people around me talking with British accents, some more flamboyant than others. He saw my grin and laughed, "Do accents make you that happy?"

I laughed softly, "It's just weird. I'm an outsider now!" He rolled his eyes quickly and kissed my forehead.

When I'd told my three girls I was leaving for London in a week, they all begged me to buy souvenirs for them. I figured since I wouldn't be allowed to pay for anything, I could buy them each something fairly nice. When I told my parents, they were almost offended I hadn't brought Edward to meet them first; they lived in Northern California almost by Oregon. I'd explained how his parents had made the travel arrangements and I'd see if we could come up there when we came back. My mother still sounded pouty when I hung up the phone, but I couldn't help her when I wasn't physically there for her.

He pulled his suitcase off the line and then pulled my bag off, "You know, you're making me look like a prima donna here." I grinned like a fool and picked my bag up off the ground and put the strap over my shoulder.

"Let me carry it for you, everybody here is going to think I'm American or something." He whispered.

I scoffed, "You just insulted my country!" We both laughed.

"Please, just let me carry your bag." He tugged on the strap so I was almost up against him.

Curse him and his ability to make me feel powerless against his beautiful smiles. I handed over my bag and felt awkward as he towed both of our bags around.

The cab was so obscure to me because the doors opened the opposite way in the back and the driver was incredibly polite. Edward gave him an address and we went whizzing off on the left side of the road. "This feels so strange…" I whispered to him.

"I know, I'd started getting used to driving on the right side as well…" He grinned and put his arm around my shoulders.

We went by several things that I couldn't help but gawk at. At one point I was leaning over him to look out the window at a statue I knew I'd seen from a movie. He just laughed and watched me act like a complete American tourist. "Like you didn't do this when you first got to Hollywood," I smirked at him. He just laughed at that.

After about a half hour of driving, we finally arrived at an impressive house that had to have been there for at least one hundred years. The stones were large and gray while the door stood amidst them in a beautiful dark cherry color. As the driver took out our bags, I saw a curtain move on the second floor and assumed someone had been watching for us to come.

We walked up to the door with him carrying both our bags, much to my protest. Right as we rang the bell, a woman opened the door and nearly knocked Edward over in a hug. I staggered back to avoid my bag swinging towards me. He seemed a little embarrassed as the woman squeaked in an indiscernible tone and kept hugging him with a handkerchief in her hand.

A slightly-older looking man came to the door and exclaimed happily as he saw Edward; this must have been his father.

After a few more minutes of the three of them shaking hands, hugging, and kissing cheeks, he finally turned and looked at me, "Mum, dad, this is Isabella." I stepped forward and smiled, "Hello, I'm Bella Swan. It's such a pleasure to meet you both." For a fraction of a second I felt as if I was being surveyed and then they invited me to come in.

Edward put our bags down by a door and we walked into a lush parlor; I wished Americans still used parlors, this was amazing. His parents took the small sofa leaving the two of us to sit in tall-backed chairs about seven feet away from each other; I felt extremely vulnerable without him beside me.

I gave him a desperate look as I pretended to scratch the side of my head. He just smiled and winked at me with the eye his parents couldn't see.

"So Bella, how did you and our Edward meet?" Mrs. Cullen inquired.

"Well, we met in our apartment building actually…I'd just gotten out of my car and…Edward was still in his car and as he almost er…hit me with his car." I felt my heart fluttering like a Hummingbird's wings. His parents both stared at me as if my hair had turned green.

"It's true mum…dad. I'd taken my eyes off where I was going to look for my phone and when I looked up I noticed Bella standing in front of my car so I had to apply the brakes pretty firmly." He laughed.

I found it strange that he used such different vocabulary here than back home.

His parents finally laughed but I felt like it was forced. "Well I guess I'll go ahead and ask the question your father and I have been wondering about Eddie," Wait, they called him Eddie, "How is it that you know Bella is the right woman for you after two months?"

Edward's eyes seemed to darken at the question and his smile vanished; it was almost scary. "Mum, dad, would you mind if I showed Bella her room upstairs where she'll be staying? I know she's tired. We can finish discussing this when I come back downstairs," He sounded agitated.

He stood up and held his hand out to me; I stood up and grabbed it as he pulled me out of the room, grabbed our bags, and towed me to a room upstairs. Once our bags were on the floor, he shut the door a little hard, "Oh my god, Bella, I'm so sorry about that. I talked to them on the phone a few days ago and specifically told them not to act like this to you…" He paced across the room several times before I caught his hand.

"Look at me Edward," I cooed.

He sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling me in front of him, "I'm sorry. I suppose it's a little disconcerting for you to see me acting like this."

"I'm more weirded out by your British vocabulary," I sat down on his legs and smiled at him.

His frown cracked into a grin, "So you noticed? Yeah, I have to talk proper around my parents. They both come from well bred families…"

I smiled, "Just so you know, I've had worse moments working at Starbucks."

He laughed and hugged me tightly, "There you go again making me feel better. You're better than any medicine."

I just grinned and ran my fingers through his hair, "You should probably get down there and straighten them out, huh?"

He laughed louder, "I suppose I should. I'll be back up in a bit. If you want to unpack your bag, there's a closet in the corner." I waved to him as he closed the door.

Once I heard him go down the stairs, I groaned and flung myself back onto the bed. That was a miserable experience; I'd never thought my self-esteem could be deflated so fast and so easily.

I did unpack, but I did it very slowly to take up more time. After thirty minutes of unpacking at a snail's pace, he came back up with a blank look on his face.

"Did everything go okay?" I asked softly and sat down on the bed.

"I suppose so. They're still just upset we're engaged after a month. I don't know what their fuss is all about; they had an arranged marriage set out when they were infants! They weren't allowed to date and they only saw each other a handful of times before they were married." He huffed and lie back on the bed.

"You mean they were forced into marrying each other?" I scoffed.

He nodded and ran his hands roughly over his hair, "Sometimes I wonder if they ever wanted to try doing that to me."

My heart dropped as I imagined some scenario where Edward had to break up with me because his parents were forcing him to marry some other girl. I shook my head and lay down beside him, "Don't say that."

His laughter made my heart beat go back to normal, "You don't have to fret over things like that. Arranged marriages were outlawed a while ago. It wasn't really until after the Seventies that people considered arranged marriages a thing of the past."

I put my arms around him and sighed, "So I'm assuming I'm going to be around them more this week?"

He nodded, "Yes. Don't worry, I told them if they mistreat you like that again that we were leaving."

"You blackmailed your parents!" I gasped sarcastically.

"I sure did. I'm not going to let anyone mistreat you," He flicked my nose with his finger and sat up before I could flick him.

* * *

The next day, we were up at seven in the morning to get downstairs and eat breakfast so we could get out of the house. He didn't want me around his parents today so I didn't complain about being exhausted and wanting to stay in and sleep.

Since he had lived here all of his life, he knew where things were and obviously felt more at ease. He knew where he was and where things were in relation to him; all in all he looked more comfortable here. "You know, it's nice being back here but I miss the sunshine." He sighed.

"Please don't get all huffy on me! I thought we got away from your parents to let loose and have fun?" I hugged his arm and grinned at him.

He tried not to smile but he couldn't keep it off his lips for long, "I know, I'm just a little upset at the way they treated you. Those guys who left Britain to start a new nation over there had the right idea if this was how they were treated for being different."

I had to hold back a gigantic urge to laugh, "Edward come on!"

He laughed and hugged me tightly as we walked to some stores, "Would you like to do some shopping now to avoid a lot of it later?" I grumbled and nodded. "Cheer up love, I won't buy you anything unless you really want it," He put his hand on my waist and squeezed comfortingly.

We walked into an H&M store and I was amazed; I'd never been to one before so it was a new shopping experience for me. He just walked around with me as I picked up various things and wondered if it would look good on me. "There are more things upstairs and downstairs. This is only the main floor." He said into my ear. I smiled and pulled him to an escalator.

I hadn't expected to want to buy anything but surprisingly I found a lot of things I liked. He just encouraged me to keep trying things on and to get anything I wanted. "Edward, tell me the truth…are your parents going to end up paying for this?" I gave him an expectant look.

He huffed and grabbed my hands, "Well…they give me a sort of allowance every month but I don't buy too much for myself so I have a bit saved up. But I guess they sort of are paying for all of this." I wanted to tell him I didn't want to get any of it, but he could sense that and assured me they didn't even ask what he spent his money on.

We walked out of H&M two hours later carrying a few bags each; I told him if he didn't let me carry any then I wouldn't let him in my room tonight. He laughed and handed me two bags. As we walked further down the street we walked by a Coach store and I groaned, "No expensive stuff."

"At least not until you're mine, right?" He laughed.

"I suppose so." I rolled my eyes and pulled him past the entrance doors.

Across the street, a commotion started to rise and get louder. Suddenly people were running across the street and cars were stopping; we looked over and saw paparazzi bombarding someone. Edward was over six feet tall so he looked over people until his face turned into mild shock, "Wow…Kate Moss."

"What?" I laughed and looked across the street only to be blocked by a minivan.

"Would you like me to hold you up?" He perched his hands on my waist which made me laugh and draw back against him.

"I want you to buy something Edward…get something nice for yourself," I insisted as we walked by a men's store.

"I left all of my nice clothes here in merry old London so all of those clothes are in my closet in my room." He shook his head as if he were trying to rid himself of a memory.

"Oh, I want to see what your room looks like!" I gasped excitedly.

"Later today perhaps. We'll have to wait until my parents are out of the house." He kissed my neck and stood up straight.

I jabbed his arm with my elbow and laughed, "You do have maids and butlers in your house you know."

"Maids only come through two days a week, neither being today. Our butlers…let's just say they feel the same way about my parents as I do." He smirked.

"Surely they can't be that terrible?" I pouted.

"They're more tolerable once you get to know them but amazingly pleasant if you have more money than they do." He shook his head dismissively.

"What should I do to try and win them over?" I realized I couldn't do this on my own.

He looked at me as we walked, "You're going to have dress like a high-society girl and act like one whenever you're around them basically. I don't want them to like you for sucking up to them; they need to love you for who you are."

I smiled to myself and then up at him, "You're so sugary sweet."

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Whaaaaaaa! Bella's gonna have a rough time with this, don't you think? XD

P.S. I hope everyone has seen Eclipse by now?

Also. I'd like _**-**__**10 reviews-**_ before I post the next chapter. I know there are enough of you out there to give me that tiny little number, haha.

***ShiningStarr***


	25. Chapter 25: I Had to Stop Myself

Sorry I didn't update sooner! I've been stressed out at work...waitressing is not fun. You can make really awesome money, but sometimes the stress feels like more than the money. A.K.A. I am going to look for a new part-time job soon. I'd really like to go back to retail. haha.

Anyway, you don't want to hear me whining, you want to be taken away into another world. Here is chapter 25 in all of it's freaking awesomeness. :)

_**P.S. 10 reviews please.**_ I need motivation to spend my time editing this and stuff to post it for you. Haha. Also, I'm trying out this "beta reading" stuff on fan fic, so if you want something read over and schtuff, look at my profile and send me a message or something. haha

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to own the characters, hence, this disclaimer. I do own the plot though, I claim that, haha.**_

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Chapter 25: I Had to Stop Myself

Edward practically dragged me into more stores just to try and make me buy things; eventually I grew tired of walking around trying things on so I gave him a look and he understood. "I suppose I can get a bit carried away when I'm driven by the feeling of wanting to spite my parents. I'm sorry," He sighed as we walked to the edge of the sidewalk to hail a taxi.

Once we'd arrived back at his residence and put my bags in my room, I was ready to take a nap. Edward's parents were home so that stifled him for the time being, it didn't stop him from trying to kiss me every moment he could.

We'd missed lunch for all of the shopping but his parents decided to break their routine and let us have lunch at two o'clock in the afternoon.

They didn't join us, which I was thankful for, but I still felt like I had to behave properly. "You can relax if you want to. They're a few rooms over," He smiled as he talked with a mouthful of steak. I rolled my eyes trying to look annoyed and it made him laugh. "I wish they could see you the way I do…truly. They'd think you were an absolutely amazing woman." He sighed happily and grabbed my hand from across the table.

"I doubt they'll like me in a week Edward…" I admitted pathetically.

He took a few more bites of his steak and finally talked again, "They want to spend the day with us tomorrow."

I nearly choked on my tiny bite of steak, "W-What?"

He motioned for me to drink some water as he continued talking. "They knew I wasn't joking when I said I'd leave early if they didn't treat you better. They want to try to get to know you better," He shrugged as if that would alleviate my anxiety.

"What are we supposed to do with them? I can't sit across the room from you in a chair for the entire day," That's what I'd pictured for some reason.

"No, good gracious no," He smiled, "They've actually decided to take you around town to see how you handle various things."

Okay so I wasn't Ms. Etiquette of America, but British etiquette was another thing entirely. This felt like some reality show where the star of the show is subjected to something humiliating and realizes it is being taped as well. "Edward," I grabbed the curved end of the chair arm and gave him a slightly terrified look.

"Don't worry Bella; I'll take care of you. I won't let them do anything horrible to you. If they try to I'll just have to embarrass them," He leaned his head down to catch my gaze.

I gave him a comforted smile, "Still my Superman." He winked at me and went back to eating.

* * *

Later that evening I found myself in an intimidating library at least fifteen feet tall. My jaw just dropped when I looked around and saw how many books there were in here; had they read all of these or were they just decoration? I walked slowly around the walls looking at as many books as I could without standing still. "A first edition of Alice in Wonderland?" I almost gasped really loud in shock; that was worth more than ten thousand dollars or something.

I looked around to make sure no one had entered the room and deftly pulled the book from the shelf just below eyelevel. The book still looked brand new so I carefully cracked it open and read one of the pages. I shut it and put it back where it had been; that would be something to tell my mother about when I got home.

Someone started to open the door so I turned to see if there was anywhere to run and hide; there was a space in the corner on the same wall as the door. I dashed over to it just as whomever it was stepped into the room.

My eyes were shut and I didn't even remember closing them; the footsteps seemed fairly confident, but almost if this person were being a little cautious.

The footsteps drew nearer to me so I stopped breathing and curled my hands up into fists; what would I say if someone found me in the corner? 'Oh, sorry, I'm afraid of large tall rooms so I decided to hide out here in the corner!'

Everything was completely silent; I couldn't hear anything and I wondered if the person had left the room. I wondered if it was safe to at least breathe, but I decided I'd rather open my eyes before I made any noises…just in case.

Right as I opened my eyes, a hand grazed my stomach and slid over to my waist. My mouth opened to breathe in to scream but another hand clamped over my mouth.

"It's just me!" Edward smiled. I let out a loud huff behind his hand and momentarily rolled my eyes upward.

He laughed quietly and pulled me out of the corner to lean me against one of the bookcases, "What are you doing in the corner of the library?"

"Hiding…" I blurted out.

"Hiding from whom?" He grinned and placed his hands on my waist.

"I don't know, I was afraid one of your parents was coming in and I didn't know if they'd get ticked off that I was in here…" I sighed and let my head fall back onto the books.

"It's just a library…you can come in if you like. Just don't go into their bedroom and you won't have a problem," He nodded.

I was slightly exhausted from the constant pressure of trying not to screw something up; it was a little annoying too. "I'm starting to change my mind about the whole eloping thing," I laughed to try and lighten my own mood.

"Oh come on, even I am excited about a wedding!" He grinned and pulled me into a hug.

"Your parents would never consider trying to help after meeting me," I hugged him tightly around the neck.

"Stop talking like that, I'm serious. You're making me feel depressed!" He frowned and grasped the back of my head.

I smiled and looked up at him, "Frowning is not a good look for you," I stood up on my toes and laid one on his poufy lips.

Before I could put my feet solidly on the ground, he had me up in his arms and against the bookshelf, "Three days without you is driving me insane. I don't care if they're here, I need you now."

My shirt was halfway up my torso when the door flew open and his mother's voice screeched at us. In absolute horror, I pushed him away from me and yanked my shirt down.

I could feel my face prickle with heat as my face flushed; Edward was trying to talk back to her but she just kept yelling. Oh god, I could feel my throat tightening as the tears tried to slip out of my eyes onto my red cheeks.

It took about three seconds for everything to happen and suddenly I flew past the both of them and ran up to my guest room. I locked the door and went into the bathroom, which I also locked.

My eyes produced an absurd amount of tears; there was no way they would ever approve of Edward marrying me now. Tomorrow would have to be called off for certain, there was no way his mother would be anywhere near me after that.

The noise and shouting from those few seconds were still playing in my head and ringing loudly in my ears. Maybe it was just my ghastly sobbing that made my ears ring, but after some amount of time had passed I could hear someone knocking very loudly.

At this point I couldn't be sure who it was; maybe Edward was trying to get in to make sure I was all right but I couldn't keep the fear out of me that it was one of his parents trying to get in to make me leave.

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I don't know how long I sat on the floor of that fancy bathroom, but eventually I cried so much I felt like I wanted to throw up. My mother always told me not to cry for more than ten minutes because too much more and I'd probably end up barfing. What do you know, she was right?

"Bella, open the door, please!" Edward's voice came through the doors and walls and he sounded tired.

My brain had shut down when I heard that door open in the library; I figured he would comfort me and would either say that his parents wanted us to leave or that they were just incredibly ticked off and he had managed to calm them down a bit. No matter what he could have said, I knew I looked horrible from crying and nothing could make me feel better on the inside.

He kept knocking and calling to me to open the door but I couldn't bring myself to even get off the bathroom floor. For some reason I just hoped he'd stop knocking and leave me alone.

Another twenty minutes passed and he finally stopped knocking; I could tell he'd stopped because there was a loud bang against the door and then all the noise stopped.

I stood up and washed my face off in the sink before daring to look at my reflection. When I brought my head up, my eyes were red, my eyelids were pink and swollen, and I had horrible tear streaks on my face. Did I forget to say my hair looked like a cat had just played with it like it would a ball of string?

Thankfully I had everything I needed to take a shower right in this very room so I turned the water on, took my clothes off, and soaked under the hot water for a little while. Once I was sure I was emotionally balanced, I turned the water off and started drying myself.

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A few hours went by and I walked around my room making myself feel worse again for what had happened in the library. I locked myself into the bathroom again and sat on top of the commode.

It sounded like someone was scratching something on the door, but before I could make out what exactly was happening I recognized the sound of a door opening. Did these doors have keys?

"Bella?" Edward called as if he were in a crowded room at a party. I sighed and knocked my hand against the bathroom door.

He rushed over and tried to open the door but it was locked, "Bella, for god's sake would you open the d*mn door?"

"Edward, your parents hate me!" I wailed; did I have water left in my body?

"Baby, no they don't! I promise. Would you please open the door? I haven't not been with you this long in a while…I miss you." It sounded like he laughed at the end.

That was pretty darn true, we absolutely hated being away from each other and this was the longest we hadn't been around each other in a long time…all my doing. Go idiotic me!

I opened the door and sighed. He stood there and looked down at me, "Sweetheart I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have done that. It was my fault."

"Oh god, no it wasn't," I threw my arms around him and exhaled sharply.

His hands grasped onto my back, "Yes it was. If I would just learn to control myself, that wouldn't have happened."

"They would have gotten mad even if you'd just had your hands on my waist. I feel so stupid…" I grumbled.

"It wasn't your fault," He leaned his cheek against the top of my head; I felt very warm with his arms around me and his head against mine.

"Don't ever lock me out like that again…I felt like I was dying the entire time I was behind that door." He sighed and lifted my head up.

"I'm sorry…I felt so absolutely horrified and my eyes just exploded with tears…" I hugged him tighter, but he lifted my head back up and kissed me hard.

My hands went up to his head and I tried to pull his head closer as if his lips could be pushed any closer than they already were. He pulled his head back up and just hugged me, "You don't need to be crying…but promise me that if you ever do again that you'll let me be there so I can offer my shoulder as your personal tissue." I laughed and invoked a smile from him.

"I promise." I placed my hands on his jaw and kissed him.

Thankfully he'd shut the door after he came in so no one saw us have the make out fest of the year on my guest bed. He almost convinced me to go the rest of the way but I told him 'no' for fear of them hearing. Who knows how long I would have locked myself in the bathroom if they'd caught us doing something more sexual than kissing?

I shuddered at the thought.

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Hahahahaha. I know this may sound really conceited and narcissistic, but sometimes the things I write make me crack up. Or maybe it's because it's late and I'm tired. *yawn*

So I bet some of you were thinking, "Psh, I woulda yelled right back at that mean old Mrs. Cullen. Show her what's what and that she's not the boss of me!" haha. that'd be pretty funny to rewrite like that...hmmmm. interesting thought. haha.

But yeah, what'd you think? TELL ME.

_**Reminder: 10 reviews.**_

I love you all.

P.S. Inception is awesome and you need to see it. Also, "Lungs" by Florence + the Machine is sooooo amazing. Buy the album.

***ShiningStarr***


	26. Chapter 26: Help! I Need Somebody! Help!

Sooo, I completely forgot to respond to all of my freaking AWESOME reviewers! I love all of you so much and wish I could jump through the screen to glomp each of you, haha.

Shout out to the lovely reviewers! Musette Fujiwara | motherduckatschool | born2bmyself | Twilightaddict | Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos (thank you for continually pointing out when i write the wrong name, haha) | Rose N Valerie | Cullen4life1996 | Vianey | Xx-Team-Twilight-xX | I Smile When It Rains (thank you for writing such a wonderful review! i appreciate the criticism, honestly! and i agree with most of what you said! and some of the stuff you asked about will be answered in coming chapters!)

On to chapter 26! Woohoo!

Also, I would very much _**10 reviews**_ again. If you would be so kind as to oblige me. :D

_**Disclaimer: by now, you should know who owns Twilight and who owns this plot.

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Chapter 26: Help! I Need Somebody! Help!

So I was pacing around my room in no particular pattern just trying to wear off my nervous energy; Edward said I had to go through with this day with his parents if I ever wanted them to know me. The hard part about that was the fact that his mother saw us making out against a bookshelf in their library. She'd probably thought I was trying to seduce him.

Within the ten or so minutes I'd been walking around my room, I'd somehow come to the idiotic idea that Mrs. Cullen would keep bringing that incident up in a slight way. She'd embarrass me somewhere while Edward wasn't around.

Perhaps the only thing wrong with that idea was that she knew all I'd have to do is say one thing to Edward and we'd be gone. She couldn't afford to humiliate me at the risk of her precious only son leaving again.

"Are you ever going to come downstairs?" Edward laughed from my doorway.

My head whipped over in his direction; I hadn't even heard the door open. "I'm just nervous that's all…" I surveyed his wardrobe selection and found myself enticed; he had on a dark grey button up shirt (the sleeves had been rolled to his elbows), a lighter grey vest, and a pair of black slacks. His shoes were shiny and black against the cherry color of the wooden floors in this house.

My eyes finally came back up to his eyes and I noticed his hair looked the same as the night he took me out to see Phantom of the Opera.

He laughed and looked at the floor for a moment, "Do I look that good to you in these horrible things?"

I nodded with a smirk playing at my lips, "It's a nice change for you…but shouldn't you be wearing a tie or something?"

He shook his head and laughed, "You sounded like my mother for a second…but yes I should be wearing one." He seemed to have added that last part on just so I wouldn't feel completely embarrassed.

"Come to my room and help me pick out a tie," His grin gave away his intentions, but I followed him willingly anyways. He led me a little ways down a hallway with a few turns and finally pulled me into a rather clean-looking bedroom, "Here we are."

His floor was beige carpet and his walls were navy blue. He pulled me over to his walk in closet and walked to the back. "Are you trying to trick me into coming into this huge closet so you can kiss me?" I laughed.

He looked over at me and grinned, "The thought crossed my mind…"

I walked in and stood behind him with my arms wrapped across his stomach.

"What color?" He sighed and pointed to a row of ties in a drawer.

My eyes widened, "My word, you certainly have a collection."

"Parents bought them all for me." He shrugged and pulled out a bright red tie, "This one?"

He turned around and held it against his shirt. "Are you trying to make a statement?" I grinned and flipped his collar up so he could put his tie on.

"Does it look all right? I'm not the best judge of fashion as you well know," He laughed heartily.

"In an odd sort of way it suits you very well…" I spoke in a contemplative voice as he tied it in a beautiful triangular knot.

"That's all I need to hear," He pulled me closer by my waist and gave me a slow, lingering kiss.

It was all I could do to try to stay up on my feet, my head was spinning.

He grinned and hugged me, "Sorry, didn't mean to disorient you. We really should get downstairs before my parents get impatient." Of course he kept kissing me, but I eventually grabbed his tie and pulled him out of his immaculately organized closet.

Of course, once we got to the stairs to go down, I hugged his arm and stood just behind the same arm. "You're acting like you're walking to an execution! They're just my parents!" He whispered jokingly.

"What's the difference? Either way I'm going to be miserable all day." I sighed.

He kissed my forehead and whispered, "Cheer up my love; it may not be as bad as you think it will."

He rearranged our arms so it looked like he was escorting me when we entered the parlor where his parents were talking and drinking Earl Grey. His mother's eyes were a hard brown color today; his father's eyes looked upon me with slight disdain. I lowered my eyes to the ground as we stood in front of them.

"Where shall we be going today mother?" Edward asked politely as we stood there as if being judged.

"I have some errands to do while we're out…we'll be going here and there really. Oh, Edward dear, really, you're wearing that tie with those colors?" She just huffed and downed the rest of her tea.

They rose in perfect unison and I glanced up at them. She was now ignoring me as her husband led her out of the parlor to the front door. "Ladies first," Mr. Cullen opened the door and motioned for us ladies to go through. Edward closed the door behind his father and when we got outside I wondered how we were going to get around.

I looked down at my lavender blouse, cursing myself for wearing something with no sleeves; I was trying to look sophisticated or something. My black pencil skirt felt like it clung too close to my legs and my dark red stilettos I'd gotten yesterday made me feel like a prostitute standing behind his mother.

Two taxis pulled up and I sighed as I waited for Edward to grab my arm and take me to one of them. "Well come along Ms. Swan, we can't keep these people waiting all day," Mrs. Cullen chided and walked to the second taxi.

My eyes found Edward walking over to the first taxi; he looked back at me and mouthed an apology before getting in.

I took a huge breath before getting in. Once the door was shut, there was no noise except for Mrs. Cullen telling the driver to follow the car in front of us.

Her eyes wandered over to my outfit and I felt like running back up to the guest room and crying my eyes out again. She was going to have me shaking in fits before the day was out; I'd go crazy trying not to offend her or something.

Ten minutes went by and she finally spoke which made me jump, "Weather seems nicer today. Good, I hate when it rains while I'm out." I was too afraid to speak and didn't know if she was talking to me or the driver.

Five more minutes and I started wondering where we were going.

"Yes, the weather looks like it will be very pleasant today, don't you think so?" She asked without sounding too agitated.

"Um…yes…looks like it." I nearly whispered.

"What? Speak up girl, I can't hear you when you mumble," She looked directly at me and I spoke louder.

"I said uh…yes, it looks like it." I gulped silently and she nodded.

"Is it this nice in California all the time?" She asked almost curiously.

"Yes ma'am, most of the time. It can get pretty hot when the sun is out all of the time though," I responded with a little more enthusiasm.

She nodded and looked back out of the window, "Edward told me you live a few floors below his apartment…"

I looked sideways out my window wondering what I was supposed to say to that, "Um…yes ma'am."

"How long have you lived there?" She inquired.

Why did I feel like she was interrogating me?

"I've lived there for about five years I think." I nodded.

"Do you enjoy living in a city with so many celebrities?" She almost sounded disdainful, but when anyone asked a question like that I knew they were interested.

"Well, when I first moved into that area it was like a game trying to find famous people…but after a few months the luster kind of wears off of the town." I shrugged.

I saw the smallest of smiles for a moment on her lips; was she warming up to me?

We finally arrived at some building and the men opened the doors for us. Edward smiled at me as he helped me out, "Still alive?"

"She asked me about living in Hollywood," I smirked feeling confused. He looked surprised as we walked over to the sidewalk.

"Where are we?" I asked as we walked into a building.

"My parents' favorite brunch parlor." He smirked.

"Are there lots of silverware I won't know how to use?" I sighed.

"Just watch me; I was forced to take lessons on all of this when I was younger." He laughed quietly.

Upon going up to the hostess's stand, the girl working there recognized Mrs. Cullen and showed her to a table. I didn't fail to notice her extra friendly smile at Edward but he didn't seem to notice; he merely put his hand on my lower back and guided me over to the table.

Well, maybe he had noticed and that was his polite way of sending a message to both of us. I grinned up at him and he winked.

When we got to the table, his parents sat on both sides of me so Edward had to sit across from me. It didn't matter too much because I could look at him easier.

Edward's mother ordered for us and I almost opened my mouth to ask if I could look at a menu but I figured that might be a little insulting. I sighed silently but Edward noticed my movements; he gave me a questioning look for a short second but I just shook my head in a short motion.

"So Edward," his father spoke up in his rich voice, "have you and Isaella decided on a date?"

"You mean a date for the wedding?" He asked nonchalantly as he twirled his fork on the table. "Well of course," Mrs. Cullen laughed shrilly; I almost flinched but thought better of it.

"Not exactly, but we settled on the month of September." He nodded as he drank some of the orange juice in his wine glass.

Honestly, orange juice in a wine glass? The Fresh Prince must have felt much the same when the same thing happened to him in the plane on the way to Beverly Hills; the full version of that song actually talked about his plane ride over.

"So where have you chosen to be married?" Both the parents looked at me for a moment and then looked at their son.

"We haven't quite figured that one out yet. Bella doesn't have too many relatives to invite so we've considered having the wedding here…we just can't decide really." He shrugged and sat back in his chair.

His mother gave him a piercing look for doing so and he sat up after a moment and scooted his chair closer to the table. "Edward, will we be meeting Isabella's parents before the wedding? We would like to know whom you will be related to after you're married." His father spoke regally but I felt my eyes widen in anger.

My breathing sped up slightly and Edward saw my wide eyes; he moved his face almost microscopically but it made me come back down to earth out of my rage.

"I'm not sure really…I haven't even met her parents yet." He propped his elbows on the table but took them off when his mother cleared her throat.

Now I understood why Edward acted the way he did; he must have been very restricted as a child and once he was out on his own he did the exact opposite.

"Perhaps we could come back with you when you go to see them?" Mrs. Cullen suggested with an almost malicious grin on her lips.

So that was how she was going to torment me; even if I told Edward I wanted to go home, she'd probably follow us back to California. Eloping started to sound really good again.

"Oh, I don't know mother. It's a little warm back there and Bella's parents wouldn't have much notice. We're only here for a few more days after all," He clearly didn't want them trailing us back either.

"Oh, well I suppose we'll have to make those arrangements for later then," His mother smiled happily.

Obviously she was only dissuaded because her son knew how to use that British charm of his. Then again, he could persuade me to do just about anything he wanted to. He had gotten me to go to Arizona for two weeks when we'd known each other for a few days.

As Mr. Cullen was saying something to his wife, he reached for his glass of grape juice and knocked it over so that it all went into my lap and splashed up onto my shirt.

I gasped and pushed my chair back a few inches which hit a waiter behind me and caused him to drop his tray of food into Mrs. Cullen's lap.

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Ohhh holy snap. I know you wanna know just how badly she's gonna flip out...but you're gonna have to give me those _**10 reviews**_ and then I'll let you know, haha.

Please, let me know how awful this is or how much you liked it. I appreciate you all writing back to me! :)

*ShiningStarr*


	27. Chapter 27: She's Gonna Come Around Soon

YAY! I'm posting again within a week! haha. You successfully submitted 10 reviews-but the more important thing is that I am actually posting another chapter for you! Because when you're good little fictioneers and do what I ask of you, I think you deserve a reward! And I know a few of you feel strongly about a certain mother in this story, hahahaha.

So here's the next chapter! JUST FOR YOU!

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_**Disclaimer: The words beneath this line belong to me, not you. Get it? Got it? GOOD.**_

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Chapter 27: She's Gonna Come Around Soon

Back in my room I'd tried to lock myself in the bathroom again but Edward had caught me by my waist before I could step in. "Bella, don't lock yourself in there again! It wasn't your fault!" He repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Yes it is!" I moaned angrily into his shoulder.

"No, it was not. If my father hadn't knocked his glass over onto you then none of that would have happened!" He replied encouragingly.

"Then why was your mother only screaming at me?" My eyes started to water again but I held the tears back so I wouldn't soak his shirt.

He sighed loudly and pulled me into a tight hug, "Just in case you didn't notice when they were in the taxi in front of us…she was yelling at him the whole time." I looked up at him with a questioning look. "I swear!" He laughed.

A smile cracked my grim expression and I finally just let out a laugh, "I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today."

He laughed louder than I had and kissed my cheek, "I wanted to die laughing when I saw all of those grapes and whatnot in my mother's hair." He started laughing pretty loudly and let go of me.

I rolled my eyes and took my shoes off, "I wouldn't be surprised if she demanded I leave at once."

"They can't send you away without me, so believe me when I say they won't send you back." He wiped some tears off of his face from having laughed so hard.

"They're not going to want to be anywhere near me for the rest of the week!" I huffed as I un-tucked my shirt from my skirt.

"More time for us then. There're still so many places you haven't been to yet." He sighed happily.

"Why don't we just get a hotel room?" I laughed.

"I tried to but my parents told me I had to stay here since they hadn't seen me in a while." He grinned.

"Probably worried I'd try to seduce you every chance I got," I rolled my eyes jokingly.

"If only they knew their son was the one doing all the seducing," He almost sounded like a cat purring as he talked in my ear.

I let out a shaky breath and gave him that slow "down and up" look. His eyebrow rose in interest and he pulled me closer towards himself. "Come on, your parents could hear us!" I laughed as he started kissing my neck.

"Not unless you can scream loud enough to hear from on the other side of this monstrosity of a house," He grinned. I blushed and grinned as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What if they come over here?" I laughed as he pushed me back towards the bed.

"As long as I'm on top they can't say it was your fault," His pupils dilated as adrenaline started rushing through his body.

I'd crawled backwards up against the headboard while he stood at the foot of the bed unbuttoning his vest. The door flew open and my heart skipped a beat; his mother was giving me the worst death glare I'd ever received.

Edward turned around and casually commented, "Mother, you look much better without all of those grapes in your hair." If she hadn't been in the room I would have laughed, but she was so I couldn't.

"I'd like to talk to the girl alone if you don't mind." She didn't take her eyes off of me and I could only look back at her for a couple seconds at a time.

"If you want to say something to her you can say it to me as well." He sounded slightly authoritative as he spoke.

"You don't need to hear what I have to say to her. This is between us women." She gave him the same glare but he didn't back down; he just sat on the edge of the bed.

She huffed and shut the door loudly as she left.

I let out a weary cry of despair once the door was shut. He turned around and immediately comforted me, "Bella, I'm so sorry. I don't know why she's in such a bad mood."

"Because she hates me! She thinks I was seducing you in the library and probably thought I made that waiter spill that food on her on purpose!" I wailed as he pulled me over against his chest.

"She doesn't hate you Bella, she just doesn't understand you." He explained.

"She doesn't want to!" I cried emotionally, "She would like nothing better than for you to marry some rich British girl to keep good blood in the family or something."

He seemed to take a small blow for that, but he understood my frustration, "Would you like me to talk to her?"

"It won't do anything! She'll only be civil to me because she knows you'd take me home in a minute if I said I wanted to go home!" I pulled my legs up to my chest and huffed.

"If you won't let me do anything how will we fix this?" He asked quietly.

"Can we just go back to Vegas and get married?" I laughed softly.

"I think my parents would murder me," He joked.

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We sat there for a little while before either one of us said anything. "She needs to see the good side of you. Maybe we could talk about something before she comes into a room and when she hears what you're saying, she'll be too interested in talking to you about it to want to annoy you!" He suggested.

"Even I can tell she's too smart for that. Why don't I just sit her down and tell it like it is?" I joked.

He paused for a moment and then spoke, "That might not be such a bad idea. She was very strong-willed and strong-minded as a young woman…perhaps if she can see that in you she'll realize you're not that different."

"Maybe…I just have to get up the courage to actually attempt to do that." I sighed.

"Why don't you wait a bit though? She's probably letting off steam somewhere around the house," He mused. I nodded and lie back down on the bed.

"In the mean time…" His eyes grazed over my body.

"Edward, calm down please," I laughed quietly.

"I can't…that skirt shows off your wonderful figure," He commented as his lips inched towards my neck.

"Well, you did look pretty handsome in your outfit today too," I reminded myself out loud.

He pulled his vest off and let it drop to the floor, "You know…I really admire the courage you've shown while you've been here."

"What courage?" I scoffed, "All I've been talking about is how scared I am of your mother!"

"I know…but you could have gone home already. You're still here," He smiled and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Maybe I am, but only because I want to try and work this out with your parents. I don't want us to get married if your parents are against it." I huffed as he unbuttoned the last button.

"Let's not worry about them right now, okay?" He pulled my head in his direction and kissed me fervently. I sighed into his kiss and immediately felt overpowered.

We were getting pretty heavy into the kissing and I suddenly felt like I was disgracing his house and his parents. "No, I can't do this here." I sat up and pulled my shirt down.

He huffed and let his face fall against a pillow, "Should we go somewhere else then?"

"No, I mean I just can't do this with your parents still mad at me…or at least your mother." I grumbled to myself and went into the bathroom to brush my hair. "I'm going to go talk to your mother and straighten this out…I can't take this anxiety anymore," I walked over to the bags of clothes I'd gotten and pulled out a navy turtleneck with a pair of light grey skinny jeans.

I changed quickly in the bathroom; by the time I came out, he was fully dressed and looked like something out of GQ just lying on my bed. "Be firm, but try not to be rude," He offered what advice he could.

"Thanks…do you know where she'd be?" I asked as I pulled on some of the house slippers I'd found in the closet.

He got off of the bed and motioned for me to follow, "I'm not sure where so I'll help you look."

We found her outside in the garden in their back yard. "Mother, Bella would like to speak to you for a minute," Edward called out to her.

She stopped and turned to look at him, "What about?"

"She'll tell you, just try to be nice mother," He smiled at her and gave me reassuring squeeze of the hand before he walked back inside.

She continued a leisurely pace so I walked up and stood just behind her, "Mrs. Cullen…I feel like we've given each other the wrong impression…"

She stopped walking again and looked at me, "No I think I know what kind of girl you are young lady." She nearly sneered at me as she continued to walk.

I felt like she wasn't really going to hear me so I walked ahead of her and blocked her path, "I just wanted to apologize for what happened today and yesterday. It was completely rude of me to act like that in your house and I really didn't mean to make that waiter spill anything on you. If anything I've been trying my hardest to avoid offending you." She seemed taken aback when I'd blocked her path but after hearing my little speech she seemed less apprehensive, just a little less.

"You American girls think life is just fun and games, don't you? Well my Eddie won't marry some hussy from Hollywood who pretends to love him just so she can try to get at his money!" She tried to walk past me but I stepped in front of her.

"That's what you think of me?" I scoffed, "Excuse me if I sound rude, but you are completely wrong! I haven't thought life was fun and games since I was about ten years old! And I'm not pretending to love your son for his money, if anything I've tried not to let him buy me anything! I can take care of myself and I've told him I don't even want you and your husband to help pay for the wedding!"

Her eyes widened in shock for a moment before she composed herself, "You've become a good actress while living in Hollywood. All you American women are the same, I've met too many of you to know that." She turned around but I blocked her again.

"You could ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I couldn't act to save my life! And we American women are _not_ the same! How dare you assume such a thing! My parents raised me with morals and ethics to uphold. And just because you're rich doesn't mean I'm interested in your money in the least! If anything I wish Edward didn't have rich parents because it would make me feel easier about our relationship. He wants to pay for anything I want or need and it actually annoys me." I huffed as I glared back at her, feeling somewhat satisfied.

She stood there, silent, and surveyed me for a few minutes. "Hmph." She puffed up her chest and walked past me. I took that as a sign she might have actually believed what I said; I watched her walk through her garden until she disappeared into the greenery I was so unused to seeing back in California.

After standing there for a minute, I walked back inside and found Edward on the piano in the parlor. I didn't make any noise because I was listening to what he was playing. Fur Elise resonated in the room and I smiled as I leaned against the door frame.

When the song ended, he sighed and looked at the clock on top of the piano. "You never told me you played," I laughed quietly.

He spun around on the circular stool and grinned, "I don't play that often." He motioned for me to come towards him, "So how'd it go?"

"I told her we got off on the wrong foot and apologized; she called me a hussy and said I only wanted to marry you for money. I told her she was wrong and then told her I didn't even want them to help pay for the wedding and she seemed surprised by that. She told me I was a good actress and that all American women were the same to which I responded with a longer rant telling her my parents raised me right and that I wished you didn't have money so you couldn't keep buying me all of these things." I huffed, wondering how he'd react.

"Wow, what'd she say to that?" He laughed.

"She just went 'hmph' and walked around me," I shrugged.

"Oh, you must have gotten to her. Tomorrow, if she at least acknowledges you then you've definitely made progress. If not…well she'll come around." He stood up and hugged me.

"I get the feeling you're curious about something else?" I smiled.

"Yeah…would you really rather I not have money?" He asked curiously.

"I don't care if you do or not. I mean I don't mind you buying me something occasionally that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, but that's not what's important to me. I love you and I wouldn't care if you were starving artist poor or Bill Gates rich!" I laughed.

"If I didn't have money I couldn't have gotten that sensational dress for you to wear though," He pouted in that five year old 'I want it now!' way.

"Edward, I don't care if you could buy me my own personal jet! I just want you in my life so that I can love you forever." I smiled and hugged him.

His parents walked into the parlor so I immediately jumped away from Edward. His father looked like he was about to laugh and his mother had a hint of happiness on her face.

"Are you satisfied mum?" Edward called to her.

"Did you know she was listening?" I scoffed.

"My dad and I did some spur of the moment planning while you two ladies were outside." Edward nodded to his dad.

"So how about it mother?" Edward repeated.

She sighed and finally smiled, "I guess she'd have no reason to lie to you…I was just worried because of how fast this whole relationship has progressed!"

"Darling, you and I only talked a handful of times before we were married," Mr. Cullen reminded his wife.

"I suppose so, but we were so much more sensible at that age!" She argued.

"Oh come now Esmé, we raised our boy right and this young lady seems to have a good head attached to her shoulders." He shook his wife lightly with his arm around her shoulders.

Her head slowly nodded and Edward gave her a large hug, "Mum I'm so happy you've seen the light!" He grinned. She laughed lightly and gave me an apologizing gaze. I nodded and smiled back at her.

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YAYYY, Conflict resolved? Did you like how Bella handled that? Or would you have preferred to see her just explode and yell? haha. It would be funny to rewrite it that way, but then it would've changed that relationship between the two women preeeetty fast. XD

Remember: 10 reviews. Write back to me and let me know what you thought. :D

***ShiningStarr***


	28. Chapter 28: Hold On

XD Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed hearing about how much you all hated evil Esmé. XD And I forgot to edit this, but Edward's dad is, in fact, Carlisle. Just some info for you all!

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am in LOOOVE with this chapter. You'll see why, hahaha.

As is the usual now, I'd like **10 reviews** to make me update again. :D

_**DISCLAIMER: The only thing I own here is this plot. Capiche?

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Chapter 28: Hold On

California hit my face with its usual heat and I smiled; finally we were back where I felt at home. Edward looked over and saw the enthusiasm on my face, "London wasn't that miserable was it?"

"Only the first half when I felt like your parents hated me…but still, as long as I'm with you I don't know that anything is really miserable," I laughed to myself and absorbed the sun's heat.

We were going to be home for a day before we left to go up to my parents. I wasn't worried about that week; my parents were open and welcome to people I brought home to meet them. Growing up in the Sixties and Seventies really made them cool parents, they just told me not to waste my time on drugs. They'd always tell me they couldn't remember most of what happened in those two decades because of all of the drugs. I preferred being in control of myself and knowing what I did so I took their warnings to heart.

Once we got back into our apartment (we made it official while we were on the plane coming back) we just sat on the couch and took a nap. We were both exhausted from the past three days of traveling. After Edward's mother warmed up to me, she insisted on taking me everywhere in London it seemed.

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After our two hour naps, we ate and I realized I hadn't practiced my yoga in a while so I took out my mat and stretched; eek, I wasn't quite as flexible as I was two weeks ago.

"Don't hurt yourself; I know you haven't done any of that in a couple weeks." Edward commented as he put some water in the tea kettle I'd brought up from my apartment. I laughed as I held my legs straight up in the air while doing the Cobra pose.

He came up by my legs and held them to his chest, "I thought I'd tell you now rather than let you freak out later but…my parents talked to me privately and said they wanted to help out with the wedding." I huffed and let my hips hit the floor while Edward still held my legs.

"I don't want them to!" I widened my eyes at him.

"I know you don't, but like I said, they'll be offended if you don't let them help. Now that they like you as my fiancé, they want to help…I know they might be old-fashioned, but they don't see why you and your parents want to try and afford everything yourself. European money is worth more than American money you know," He joked. I rolled my eyes and pushed my hips back off of the ground.

"Did you realize we haven't been together for an entire week?" He commented after a moment.

I laughed, "So that's what's bothering you."

"Well it's not bothering me…I just noticed it." He grinned and pulled my feet higher.

"Edward, stop!" I laughed. He let go only to bend further down and pulled my knees up to his shoulder. He stood up and I came completely off of the ground, "Put me down you idiot!" He laughed and grabbed my hand. "I'm warning you!" I shouted as the blood rushed to my head.

He pulled my upper body up as he let my legs fall into his other arm so that I ended up being held in his arms, "What'd you think of that trick?"

I gave him a minute glare, "I thought you were going to drop me." (*A/N: I'm not saying 'minute' time-wise, I'm saying 'minute' as in small*)

His jaw fell, "Drop you? You think I'd drop you?"

"The thought crossed my mind," I said huffily.

"Bella, I'll never drop you." He smiled and set my feet back on the ground. I smiled up at him and walked over to the stove to take the kettle off of the stove; it'd been whistling for a few minutes now.

As I poured the water over the tea bag in the mug, I heard him walk back to the bedroom. I turned around and wondered why he'd gone off so quietly.

He walked back out after a minute with his hand behind his back and a badly suppressed smile on his lips. "Edward, did you buy me something?" I groaned.

He just laughed and walked up to me, "Stop acting like I'm making you do something completely awful! You should be flattered!" I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless, his smiles made it impossible for me to hold too much of a grudge against him.

"Don't tell me to close my eyes!" I said firmly as his mouth opened.

He groaned, "Just let me do this my way! Please?" He was incredibly adorable when he was frustrated so I shut my eyes and held out my hands.

I felt a thin rectangular shape in my hands; it was cold too. I opened my eyes and saw a wooden picture frame with a picture of him taking a picture while we were at the Grand Canyon. My face burned bright red as I realized this was the one picture I'd meant for him never to see.

"What's wrong?" He asked when he noticed my flushed face.

"It's just…I didn't want you to see this picture." I tried to calm myself down but it didn't help.

"Why? I like it! Quite artistic if I do say so myself…you were a good photographer." He grinned and kissed me.

"I'm sad we never got a picture together…" I smiled as I looked down at the picture.

"Well…I got one…" He grinned and pulled it out of his shirt pocket.

He'd held the camera out to his side and smiled at it as I was looking out at the scenery. "You actually didn't notice this one…and strangely enough I never wanted you to see this one either," He laughed and held it out for me to see.

"Wait, when did you get these pictures? I don't remember taking to get them developed." I recalled.

"I took them about a week after we got back…I've had them for several weeks now…I just forgot to tell you," He grinned as I glared at him.

"Come back to the bed and I'll show you the rest." He grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his bed. He pulled a few sleeves of photos out of a drawer in his huge dresser and set them on the bed.

As I went through them, we both laughed and smiled as we recalled the memories. "That was so fun…I wish we could do spontaneous things like that all the time," I laughed and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"If you really want to we could always-" He began.

"No," I interrupted, "If you continue to pay for everything I'm going to go crazy and…shave my head or something!"

He laughed loudly and hugged me, "Please don't! Your hair is so beautiful! I'd hate to think of you without it…not to mention the smell of it makes me want to eat strawberries covered in chocolate or something."

I gave him an odd look, "Should I be creeped out or flattered?"

"Both," He grinned and pulled me back onto the bed. We started out going slow and things began to move faster the more we stayed on the bed.

When we were both exhausted again; I wondered how I'd gone a week without this.

"How did we make it a week without this?" He laughed breathily.

"I was just thinking that," I grinned and rolled onto my stomach.

"Our honeymoon is going to be incredibly exhausting Bella…we need to get in better shape if it's going to be like this for two weeks or however long we're gone." He laughed.

"In case you forgot, we did this basically every day for three weeks!" I rolled my eyes and felt his hand caress my back. He smiled and shut his eyes.

As I stood up to take a shower, he grabbed my hand, "Don't leave!"

"I'm just going to your shower…if you're going to sleep I'll make good use of my time since I'm not working or anything." I laughed quietly. "I'm sorry I always fall asleep…it just comes over me." He grinned and rubbed his eyes. "That happens to men. Don't worry about it, it's a natural occurrence." I nodded. He let go of my hand and smiled as he shut his eyes again.

My mind was relishing in all of the moments we'd had together. Arizona seemed like a lifetime ago but it was only about two months ago really. Standing in the shower just relaxing made me wonder why I'd ever thought Sterling was the man for me.

I tried not to think of him; I was through with that part of my life and this part of my life was the happiest I could remember.

* * *

As the next day rolled around, we were throwing our clothes back into a bag since we'd decided to do our laundry at one in the morning. We were tired but we had to get to the airport to make our flight.

Yes, we could have driven, but neither one of us wanted to and we didn't want to be in a small car for an extended period of time.

We made our flight with five minutes to spare; our flight was over before I knew it, but that might have been because I fell asleep. He nudged my arm as the plane landed, "Wake up sleeping beauty!" I laughed softly and stretched my neck.

* * *

My parents were waiting for us to get off of the plane so I prepped Edward a little bit as we walked out to greet them. "They're about as laid back as I am. Don't worry about trying to be too proper around them or they'll think you're trying to be stuck up or something." I warned.

"So just act like I do around you…minus all of the physical contact and whatnot?" He grinned. I nodded and grabbed his warm hand as we turned the corner and saw them.

Their eyes immediately found me so I ran forward to meet them. I grabbed both of their necks and squeezed. They hugged me about as hard and we all made that weird noise when you hug someone really hard. We finally let go of each other and began greeting. "Oh, mom, dad, this is Edward Cullen." I blushed when I realized he'd just been standing behind me the entire time.

My mother held out her arms and Edward seemed surprised by the open invitation. He leaned down and hugged her, "It's such a pleasure finally getting to meet Bella's parents. She talks so well of you both." Charlie grinned enthusiastically and held out his hand which Edward shook firmly. "We've heard about you too Edward, is that what you prefer to be called?" Renée asked cautiously. "You can call me Edward, yeah, that's totally fine." He nodded.

After we'd gotten our luggage, we walked out into the parking garage and I was surprised to see my dad unlock a dark green Jaguar. "Um, what happened to the Chevy?" I asked with my mouth hanging open.

"It died on me while coming home from work one day," My father sighed, he loved that car, "I happened to break down a few blocks away from a car dealership…I've been saving up for a new car in case that one broke down and well…when I saw this one, I couldn't take my eyes off it." As he laughed, he had all of those lines around his eyes and mouth; they'd gotten older in all the while I hadn't been there.

The ride to my old, familiar home was filled with lively chatter about London and what everyone had been doing. Edward seemed at ease around my parents and I was so thrilled this was going as well as I'd hoped.

Once we'd put our bags back into my room, we went back out into the kitchen to eat. "Mom, where is Edward going to sleep?" I asked as she took some bread out of the oven.

"Well your father turned the spare room into sort of a multi-purpose room and right now I think it's some sort of office?" She mused as she set the bread on top of the oven.

"So…he's sleeping where?" I asked.

"I thought you'd want him in your room of course," She laughed and stirred something in a large pot.

He laughed softly and I blushed; that was awkward to hear from my mom.

"You were right," Edward whispered in my ear, "they really are open and friendly people." I nudged him with my elbow and rolled my eyes.

"Bella, honey, can you go get your father? I think he's in his office," She smiled as she put a lid back on the pot.

"Sure," I nodded and walked off down the hallway.

"Dad?" I knocked on the door to his 'office' and he told me to come on it.

"Mom wanted me to come and get you, I think we're about to eat." I smiled.

"Oh, all right. I'll be out in a minute," He nodded. I nodded back and shut the door.

When I came back into the kitchen, Edward's face was tinted pink and he was avoiding my mother's eyes.

"Mom, what did you say to him?" I groaned as I tried not to imagine what kinds of things she could have said to make him turn that color.

"I was just asking him if he was making sure to use protection!" She scoffed as she were asking about something superfluous.

"Mom!" I squealed and slapped my hands to my forehead.

"Honey, I don't want you to have something unexpected come along if you weren't planning for it yet! Is that so bad for me to look out for my daughter?" She huffed and put some butter into the microwave to melt it from being in the fridge.

The rest of dinner I was inwardly groaning to myself and Edward still seemed pretty embarrassed. I would almost have preferred the first day in London as opposed to this.

* * *

AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH! Can you see why I love this chapter? Oh man...and the thing is, I could totally see Renée saying something like this to Bella when she and Edward went down to Florida to see her. XDDD

Oh snap. That last part just makes me laugh and smile to myself! hehehe.

_**So yes, REVIEW NOW. 10 REVIEWS PLEEEEASE.**_

*ShiningStarr*


	29. Chapter 29: For Love

OMG. Finally saw "Vampires Suck" (the Twilight parody) this past weekend. HAH. So freakin' funny! If you haven't seen it, GO SEE IT. There are some seriously funny parts! Others were a bit grotesque and made me look away from the screen so I wouldn't vomit from my awful gag reflex, haha.

OKAYYYY, MOVING ON TO HAPPY THOUGHTS!

I loved all of your reviews about Ch. 28! I'm so happy you all like my portrayal of Renée! hahaha. I really liked writing that part, just because, for the most part, dear old Edward has been the confident and strong one and Renée has a good habit of saying the funniest things at the worst moments. XD

Hope you all enjoy this next chapter. It still has some Renée humor in it, but it also has some serious moments. :D

_**Please remember: 10 reviews**_ for me to post a new chapterrrrr.

_**Disclaimer: I disclaim owning these characters. I claim to own this plot. Okie dokie?**_

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Chapter 29: For Love

Edward's face finally returned to its normal color once we'd left the kitchen and gone back into my room. "Bella I've never been that embarrassed in my life!" He was actually laughing at the situation.

"I can't believe she asked you that…" I grumbled to myself and pushed my engagement ring side to side on my finger.

"She had a good point I guess…but that was just so awkward!" He laughed louder this time and lie down on my queen sized bed. I shook my head and pulled my hair down from its ponytail.

"I also can't believe your parents are letting me sleep in the same room as you," He grinned at me in that familiar way.

"It doesn't surprise me that much…I just can't believe she's letting you…I thought she'd try to at least keep you away from me while we were here. I guess she's okay with us though…" I finally smiled and sat down on the edge of my bed.

He sat up and put his arms around my waist, "What are we going to do up here all week?"

"Hopefully not have to answer anymore embarrassing questions like that again," I shuddered lightly.

His lips pressed against my exposed shoulder, "I meant more along the lines of, 'are we going to be able to mess around while they're asleep or are they light sleepers'?"

I groaned and stood up, "Why is everyone in this house but me so interested in sex?"

"Because you're weird," He joked and pulled me back down onto my bed.

"I love your room by the way…the light purple color suits your personality. It hints at royalty or something of the sort," He grinned and kissed my neck.

"I loved your navy blue walls," I laughed and pushed him away from my neck; it was almost a reflex to push anyone away when getting too near to my neck.

"What color should I paint my apartment room?" He grinned.

"Black!" I joked.

"Only if you want it to be extra dark during the night," He winked at me.

* * *

The next morning I woke up at eight; it almost felt relieving to have that trait back. I knew my parents never slept in either so I went out into the living room and found them watching the morning news. "Good morning mom," I called as I sat down beside her on the couch.

"Well good morning sweetheart," My dad scoffed jokingly.

I rolled my eyes, "Good morning to you too dad!"

"What brings you out here so early in the morning?" My mom asked as she hugged me.

"I inherited the early bird gene from you two…but I just wanted to ask you not to ask Edward anymore embarrassing questions like you did yesterday afternoon." I said quietly to my mom.

"What was embarrassing?" She laughed.

"Asking him if he was…'being careful'!" I widened my eyes at her.

"Honey, I'm just looking out for you! I know you probably can't keep him off of you by the looks of him." She and my dad both started laughing.

My face almost hurt I was blushing so much, "No remarks like that either, please? He was really embarrassed yesterday…"

"Bella, we're grown adults. We know what can happen between two people who are in love. Why are you so embarrassed by us talking about it around you?" My dad took off his glasses and looked at me.

"I just am! It's not even so much talking about it around us; it's talking about us when we're in the same room!" I huffed and let my head fall back on the couch.

"Well honey, if it bothers you that much then we won't talk about it or make jokes about it." My mom nodded promisingly.

I walked back to my room to wake Edward up for breakfast; when I opened the door, he was still laying on the bed with his eyes shut; my perfect angel. I smiled, still wondering how a guy as gorgeous as him would find me so enthralling. "Edward?" I sang and kissed his neck.

He moaned quietly and opened his eyes, "I know I just woke up but you already have me in the mood."

I rolled my eyes, "Breakfast is ready, do you want to come eat or keep sleeping?"

"Can't you stay back here?" He sat up slowly and pulled me closer to himself.

"I suppose I could but we might end up being a little noisy." I gave him a slow, lingering kiss and stood up.

"Bella, god, that kiss is killing me! You can't leave me back here!" He caught my hand in his and tried to pull me back.

"If you don't want to be away from me then get up and eat with me!" I tried to pull against him but he was a lot stronger than I was; he finally pulled me back onto the bed and started kissing me.

"If I got up you might not stop looking." He smirked and ran his hand up my side.

"Are you wearing boxers or something?" I grinned.

He nodded, "I remember seeing your face when I came out of my room one time and I only had my shirt on over one shoulder…"

My eyes widened a bit, "You noticed my face?"

"Bella, I notice a lot about you that you probably don't think I do…I see even the smallest reactions you have." His hand trailed down to my hip.

"Edward, that's so embarrassing! I'll have to make sure not to let you see so many of my reactions then," I laughed and sat back up.

"I want to go somewhere with you today, just the two of us." He had a small smile pressing on the corners of his lips but it was enough to make a chill run down my back.

"I guess I could take you to some of my favorite places…" I smiled and straightened my shirt out.

"Don't forget your hair," He called as I reached for the door knob.

I ran to my mirror and combed my fingers roughly through my hair, "Thanks, that would have been a little embarrassing."

"Yeah, your parents probably would have commented on it," He laughed quietly.

As I walked out into the kitchen, my parents looked over at me and smiled.

"Did you get caught up back there?" My mom grinned.

"You promised no jokes!" I groaned and stomped over to the counter.

"I know, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself!" She covered her mouth to suppress her laughter but I could still hear it.

I got some pancakes and put butter and syrup on them before walking into the living room. "Oh Bella, come on! We haven't eaten breakfast with you in so long!" My dad called from the kitchen.

"I'm not going to sit in there if you're going to keep making jokes about me!" I huffed.

* * *

Eventually I did join my parents in the kitchen but I was still a little sour. They got me to lighten up when they asked about wedding details.

"Did you get those pictures I sent you mom?" I asked brightly.

"Yes! They all looked so perfect on you Bella! My favorite was the second one." My mother got that sparkly look in her eyes.

"I liked the first one." My dad interjected his opinion.

"My friends that came with me liked all of them too…I was leaning towards the last one but I just can't make up my mind." I huffed.

"Well you'll have some time. You said the wedding would be in September." My mom offered.

"Yeah, but I don't want someone else to buy my dress," I laughed.

"Who's buying your dress?" Edward smiled at me knowingly as he walked to the table in a pair of light, torn blue jeans and a white button up.

The feeling that ran through me would have surely taken over me if I hadn't realized he was going to try and buy this dress if I told him about it.

"No one," I spoke loudly before my parents could say anything.

"Mr. Swan, could I ask you something?" Edward looked over at him.

"Fire away Edward," My dad grinned.

"Bella has told me that you would be very much opposed to my parents helping out with the wedding. I can certainly respect that but I don't want you and your wife to spend your well earned money when my parents are more than willing and more than able to help out. So I guess my question is whether or not you'd let my family help out with the cost?" He had his most polite face on and it annoyed me, but I knew my parents wouldn't falter.

"Well now, that's certainly a wonderful gesture," My parents smiled warmly.

"You're not going to let them help, are you?" I stared at them in shock.

"Well Bella, this isn't the nineteenth century anymore." My dad looked my way with purpose.

"But-you always talked about-" I started.

"Bella, we _are_ going to be the ones paying for this. If his parents want to pitch in a little bit, why should that bother you so much?" My mother asked curiously.

My brain felt like someone had run a large current through it and fried it, "Fine, whatever." I sighed and sat back in my chair. All three of them stopped talking and looked over at me; Edward looked over at my parents and gave them an apologetic smile.

I went back to my room hoping to be alone but Edward followed me. Once the door was shut, he just stood there and waited for me to talk. I didn't want to talk and after a few minutes of silence he decided to make me talk, "Why are you so upset about this Bella?"

"Because I just am!" I huffed loudly and sat in my bean bag chair in the corner.

"Come on sweetheart, when you're miserable, I'm miserable. Tell me what's wrong." He sat on the edge of my bed and stared at me.

"I don't know why I'm so upset about all of this…I've just been living for the past five years supporting myself and suddenly you come in and offer to do everything for me. Now the people I thought shared my mindset just change on me…it's frustrating." I huffed and hugged a pillow against my chest.

"Bella…when I offer to buy something for you, I'm not doing it to spite you and frustrate you…I buy you something because I love you and I want you to be able to have whatever you want." He gave me a meaningful look and smiled.

"I know, but…my way of life is to just have what's absolutely necessary. I'm not a girl of excess or luxury…the sudden change is just difficult." I shoved my face into my pillow and felt him pull it away after a moment.

He was kneeling beside my bean bag giving me an apologetic stare, "I'm sorry. I suppose growing up the way I did…and then meeting you…I just figured you'd want to be spoiled, but clearly you're not that kind of girl. Maybe that's why I like you so much." I laughed softly and leaned over to my side so my head could lean against his shoulder.

Someone knocked on the door so I told them to come in. "Bella, is everything okay?" My mother smiled when she saw me leaning against Edward.

I nodded, "Yeah, my head just got a little too big for my shoulders for a minute."

She laughed and Edward grinned widely. "Well that's great!" She smiled, "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay before your father and I left. We have a movie group that meets once a week and we watch classic films."

"Oh, which movie is it this week?" Edward asked curiously. "It's called 'the Defiant Ones' with Tony Curtis in it…it's an old black and white film. It's supposed to be very good." She nodded.

We said a few goodbyes and then the two of us were alone in my room. "So I wonder what Edward is thinking about now that we have the house to ourselves?" I laughed.

He scoffed, "I was thinking about…um…not about sex!" We both laughed as he sat beside me on my large bean bag.

"I know you only wanted to go somewhere to have sex outside of a bed." I gave him a flirtatious grin without meaning to.

"Maybe so…but I'd gladly stay here. We nearly did it in my room but we can certainly do all of that here in your room." He raised his eyebrow at me as he started to turn his body towards mine.

"Please Edward; this has been my room for twenty two years. My childhood and all of those awkward teenage years' memories are here. I don't know how this would affect me later down the road," I tried to stay serious but the look on his face made me laugh.

"What a better memory to have in your room than this?" He seemed pretty serious and I wondered if he really did want to do this.

"I…I don't know." I sat up before he could lean too far over me.

"If you don't want to do this here, let's get out and go somewhere," He stood up and held out his hand.

"No…I…" My fear of public embarrassment and getting caught kicked in, "no, we can stay here." I stood up and pulled my shirt down.

"Mind if I do a few things before we start this?" He smiled and kissed me.

I shook my head, "I need to go to the bathroom anyways and brush my hair." He rolled his eyes as he smiled.

When I returned to my room, he'd draped some sheer red fabric over my lamp that was from my curtain rod and had lit the two candles beside my bed. "You certainly know how to put the mood into a room," I grinned and ran my fingers through my tangle-free hair.

"I want this to be special for you." He shrugged just barely and pulled me into his arms.

The way he held and kissed me almost made me want to cry; he was being so sweet and gentle with me that I felt like I'd never been with him before.

Somewhere in the middle of all the adrenaline and emotion, I did feel hot tears spill out onto my moist face. I couldn't tell if he'd noticed, but after I'd started crying he held me so tightly for a moment that I thought my ribs my crack.

My tears continued even after we were halfway sitting against my headboard and he was holding me against his chest. "Isabella, I love you so much," He breathed heavily into my hair.

I wiped a few tears off of his moist chest and hugged him, "I love you too."

"Was this okay? I want to make sure these are good tears," He let out the smallest of laughs. I nodded a few times and wrapped my arms up around his neck. "Are you all right?" He said softly against my ear. I tried to speak but I couldn't stop crying for the hormones surging through me. All he could do was hold me closely and kiss me, but we were both surprised when I fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

Say it together: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! hahaha.

So...I'd really like to hint at the next chapter...but in all honesty I can't remember what happens...well, I think I might have just remembered something but I think it might just be my imagination running wild. HAH!

_**Please be kind and rewind-I mean...review**_. XD I love hearing your thought on my ramblings slash stories! hehehe.

*ShiningStarr*


	30. Chapter 30: Shy Behavior

So...didn't get 10 reviews last week and it made me not update. I was also really busy last week so that also made me not update. HAHAHA.

Here is chapter 30! And I just want to give a huge-mongous, gigantic, gargantuan THANK YOUUUU shout out to all of you who continuously review. You made my little wonderland world go round and round. :D

_**Disclaimer: don't own characters, blah blah blah, plot is mine, blah blah BLAHHHH.

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**_

Chapter 30: Shy Behavior

Needless to say, when he woke me up two hours later, I was in slight shock that I'd just made love in my bedroom and that I had been the one to fall asleep, not him. He was running his hand up and down my side with the rhythm of my breathing.

After my eyes opened and I got over that initial shock, he just smiled at me, "Do you think your parents will be back soon?"

"They'll probably call to give me some warning just in case," I grinned and let my eyes drift shut.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep again!" He hugged me and kissed my neck at the same time.

I let out a spurt of giggles when his lips touched my neck, "I get ticklish when something gets near my neck. Be careful!" He just sighed with a smile and held me against his chest.

"Have you ever thought about our relationship and asked yourself if this was too incredibly perfect?" I asked quietly, but curiously.

"Once or twice…I don't want to jinx the best thing in my life. I suppose my reasoning for it is that if you find the person you're supposed to be with forever…and the two people were brought up well…why shouldn't the relationship be so smooth?" He mused.

"I know…but we haven't even actually had an argument." I pointed out.

"Small disagreements like the one earlier," He laughed, "I just can't find it in me to want to do anything to upset you."

"Same here. I don't want to mess up what isn't messy," I sighed happily and felt him move my hair away from my neck.

"Would you like to take a shower?" He leaned over me and smiled widely.

"You know my policy; besides, what if my parents called if we were both in the shower? That might not turn out so well." I pointed out.

"All right, you go first then." He squeezed my hip and shut his eyes to act like he was trying to go to sleep again.

I appreciated the privacy and the gesture so I gave him a kiss before I left the room to go to the bathroom.

* * *

He knocked on the door while I was washing my hair so I told him to open the door. "Your parents just called and said they'd be home in thirty minutes…should it bother me that it sounded like they were laughing in the background?" He asked curiously.

"Um," I wanted to groan really loudly in aggravation, but I settled for an eye roll, "no, they're pretty upbeat people."

"Okay, well hurry up and get out so I can shower." He laughed. I smiled to myself as I washed the shampoo out of my hair.

As I walked into my bedroom to get dressed, he was on the floor doing pushups. He heard the floor creak as I walked in so he stopped and looked up, "Hello gorgeous."

I blushed and walked to my closet, "Did you plan to keep doing those until I walked in?"

"Well I do like to stay in shape. Do you want me to get fat after we're married?" He laughed. I rolled my eyes with my head turned away from him.

He hugged me from behind and kissed my jaw line, "I can't get enough of you… you're so addicting."

I turned around and smiled at him, "Go take your shower before my parents get home and start making fun of us." He laughed loudly and walked over to the bathroom.

* * *

The rest of the week went pretty smoothly and my parents found an excuse to go out almost every single day. Edward and I always took advantage of that to go out and be by ourselves. Every moment with him felt like those moments in movies when the sun is just right and everything moves a little slower to let you savor the moment.

"I can never be close enough to you…it's so frustrating," I laughed as we walked through a park.

"We'd have to be one person to be any closer Bella," He grinned and put his arm up over my shoulders.

"I know…it's just…being in love with you is just absolutely incredible. I keep telling myself how stupid I was to avoid you for those first two weeks," I sighed and grabbed his hand that was hanging down over my arm.

"I have a confession to make," He laughed almost as if it were an embarrassing secret.

"What?" I scoffed and nudged him in the side.

"Well…for those two weeks…I was actually putting quite a bit of effort into seducing you…not sexually seducing you, just seducing in a way to make you fall in love with me or something." His cheeks showed the embarrassment he was trying to cover up with laughter.

"You know…I had a feeling you were being way too charming." I joked. He groaned pathetically and leaned his head onto my shoulder.

* * *

Once we were back at our apartment, we had to go back down to my apartment and get my boxes up here. We were making our third trip back up when I huffed loudly, "I have way too much crap…"

"Bella, we've brought maybe six or seven boxes up, most of it has been your clothes and your kitchen stuff." He laughed and kissed the top of my head.

"Where am I going to put all of this stuff though? Your apartment is bigger than mine but where am I supposed to put these boxes?" I groaned and glared at the box in my arms.

"Well, maybe we could move out of here and find somewhere bigger," He suggested.

"I can't help you pay for rent as it is. Do you really want to torture me by going somewhere where the rent goes up with the space?" I gave him a pouty frown.

"I just want you to have somewhere to put your stuff," He laughed and kissed my puffy lower lip.

We put those boxes down behind his couch and he seemed to be examining the couch, "You know…your couch is in a lot better shape than mine."

"Edward, there's no way I'm moving a couch." I laughed and sat down at his kitchen table.

"Well I like your furniture better than mine," He grinned and walked up behind my chair.

"Hire some movers then…I can't move all of my furniture," I laughed wearily.

"I'm glad you said that because I did." He stepped back as I jumped up out of the chair.

"What?" I laughed.

"They should be here in about twenty minutes. They'll move my furniture out and move yours in if you want to." He grinned.

This was all too amazing; was I growing bored of the relationship being on a constant high? Where was the drama in the relationship? Where were the arguments about who keeps what when they move in and who puts their stuff where? Where were the moments when we wondered if the other was being faithful?

The train of thought ran rampant in my head and as he went back down the hall to go to the bathroom, I sunk down into the chair I'd jumped out of and wondered why I wanted any of that. Why would I want to argue with him or wonder if he was being unfaithful? How did my relationship end up being so perfect? Not that I minded being so happy with him, but didn't a relationship consist of emotions other than happiness, love, and the occasional lustful desire?

I realized I was trying to create a problem for myself and I shook my head to shake this feeling off. What was going on with me?

* * *

A week went by and I was back at that small dress shop with my girls again. "Okay, I really don't know which one I want," I sighed as I adjusted the third dress again that we all liked.

"You know, seeing them all again, I like the fourth one." Yvette looked over the dress as I turned in a few directions in front of the large mirror.

"Same," Margot nodded.

My eyes wandered over to Elisa as she just smiled away at me, "Honey, you look absolutely beautiful in that one. I can see you with your hair up and…god I wish I could get married again." We all laughed and I wondered if I should bring up my thoughts from last week while moving in.

* * *

"Can I talk to you about something for a minute?" I asked Elisa as we walked out to our cars to head off to lunch. I readjusted the huge bag in my arms and gave her a slightly desperate look.

"Sure honey, let's put that in your car and we can talk." She caught on quickly and followed me over to my car.

"Is everything okay with-" She started.

"Everything is perfect," I huffed.

She let out a small laugh, "What are you upset about then? Most people would kill for a relationship like yours."

"It's just…everything has been perfect for so long. We never argue about anything, we just talk rationally. It's just…there's no drama and I feel there should be," I huffed louder and leaned back against my car.

"Sweetie, you've been in a relationship with him for three months…give it time…why does that feel so backwards to say that?" She grinned and we both laughed.

"I know it hasn't been that long…but…I mean it seems like there should have been some sort of blip along the way," I gave her a pleading look.

"Didn't you say his mom gave you a hard time over in London?" She asked quietly as Margot drove by us.

"Yes…I've been trying to block that out." I smiled.

"And when we found out you two were engaged we were the dramatic ones. Maybe you two just aren't dramatic people, but we certainly are," She offered.

"I suppose so," I did feel a little better, "but did you and Luke ever go through a perfect phase for a while?"

"The two weeks of our honeymoon and the month after it…god those were the best six weeks…just enjoy your relationship for what it is Bella. You'll get your drama eventually," She laughed.

We got into our cars and hurried off to lunch.

* * *

Edward wasn't in the apartment when I got back so I took out my yoga mat and did some strenuous stretching; I figured I'd be a little sore tomorrow. After my body felt sufficiently limber, I just lay down on my mat and soaked in the warmth of the sun shining through the windows.

Being by myself was very relaxing and allowed me to clear my head of the thoughts that had been pestering me for the last week. I laughed once the giddy feeling returned and turned over on my side towards the window. Suddenly I felt like a teenager who'd fallen madly in love and I just smiled to myself.

Somehow I fell asleep and when I woke up, the sun was setting. I sat up and stretched my arms, "Edward?" No one answered and I figured if he had come home he would have woken me up. I looked around for my cell phone and finally found it in my purse in the kitchen, just where I'd left it. He hadn't called or texted me; I started to worry and wonder where he was.

I dialed his number but after five rings it just went to voicemail; why did I feel so devastated as I hung up before his message ended? He'd rarely failed to pick up when I called or to call me if he was going to be out for a while.

What if something happened to him? How would they know to contact me if he couldn't speak? If he'd gotten in a wreck and was unconscious, when would I ever know he'd been hurt?

Whoa Bella, I had to stop myself before I burst into tears and he'd probably walk in and freak out wondering why I was crying. I laughed at my hysterical behavior and went to roll up my mat.

The only thing that could hold my attention was the television so I turned it on and flipped through some channels until I saw 'My Fair Lady' was on HBO. Thankfully, that movie was about three hours long so it held my attention. Unfortunately he still wasn't back when the credits rolled and with the commercials it had been around four hours or something like that.

It was almost eleven o'clock; where was he and why hadn't he called me to let me know where he was? He would never be out this late without telling me.

Those thoughts I'd tossed out earlier came rushing back in and I wondered if I'd jinxed myself. What if there was another woman and he'd just been fooling me this whole time? But he'd been with me every minute of the day possible for the past three months basically. How would he ever have time to have a relationship with anyone else?

He'd had one of those people come out from his college a while ago to make sure he was fairing well over here. Could he possibly be having another one of those nights?

My brain kept racing until I huffed and stomped back to our bed and just threw myself onto it. This was driving me insane and he had to know that; he got as crazy as I did whenever we were apart for too long so I couldn't imagine what would keep him from being away for so long without any contact.

I turned on his stereo but whatever the CD was that was in didn't help me calm down; rock had never appealed to me on a deeper level. I went through his CDs in the cabinet the stereo was sitting on and was surprised at the variety. He had a collection of classical pieces so I put one of those in and shut my eyes to try and relax.

By the third song, I was feeling drowsy even with volume up a little high to sleep to. I'd resolved myself into feeling a relaxed depression that it was nearing midnight and I hadn't seen him since ten this morning. Tears tried to form but I just groaned and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands.

My eyes did eventually shut and I fell asleep with Moonlight Serenade leading me farther into unconsciousness.

* * *

When I woke up, it was pitch black outside except for the streetlight across the street. He was sleeping beside me with a pained expression on his face. I found myself crying as I looked at him and wondered where he'd been, why he'd never called, and why he didn't wake me up when he'd gotten back.

To avoid waking him up I went into the living room and cried into one of the pillows; well, I'd gotten what I'd wished for: there was some drama in our relationship.

* * *

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *dramatic wailing*

Evil drama. EVIL EVIL DRAMA. XP Perhaps Bella HAS jinxed herself. :/ Or maybe she's just being overdramatic? What do you think?

Oh...just to let ya'll know, (p.s. yes, I say "ya'll". I'm from the south, haha) your dear old authoress just might have fallen in love a little bit. :) I'm having my own drama with that because I'm going CRAZY thinking about this guy all the time but I can't figure out how to get in contact with him. ARGH. I could ask one of his friends and see if they have his number...but I don't want to seem like I'm a stalker or something, you know? XD

ANYWAY. _**1O REVIEWS**_ if you want a new chapter next Sunday!

*ShiningStarr*


	31. Chapter 31: Please, Just Say It

ACK. I meant to post this chapter a few days ago since you all submitted MORE than 10 reviews. You're such good reviewers! I meant to reward you but life got in the way. XP So here is your chapter a little early, haha.

P.S. Please go ahead and review this chapter! I'll post the next one on Sunday anyway, but I like hearing what you all think about my chapters! Your reviews were most amusing for the last chapter!

P.S.S. Some of you might be mad at me for why Edward was so elusive. hahaha

_**Disclaimer: I own the plot, not the characters...well, I own a few ch****aracters, but not the ones from Twilight, hahaha.**_

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Chapter 31: Please, Just Say It

I was up at eight and he wasn't. My legs felt loose and my arms felt like weights. How could I be so miserable?

He walked out into the living room right as I let my body be taken over by the misery within. "Bella, what's wrong?" He rushed over to me and pushed my shoulders up away from my legs, "Did you sleep on the couch?" I nodded and let my head fall into his shoulder as the tears fell freely.

"Sweetheart what's the matter? Your face is heartbreaking," He whined pathetically.

"Where were you yesterday? I was so worried about you," I hugged my arms to my chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"Did I not tell you I had to be in New York for some tests for school?" He seemed absolutely appalled that I was in this state because of him.

I lifted my head and gave him a confused look, "No!"

"I could have sworn I did!" He thought about it for a moment and seemed to remember something, "Yes, I told you before you left this morning!"

"When?" I noticed my voice sounded like I was sick.

"Oh! I know why you didn't remember," He laughed lightly, "You were trying to leave and I kept kissing you…I told you somewhere in those ten minutes that I had to leave and you must not have heard me." I exhaled heavily a few times and let myself fall sideways against the arm of the couch.

"Sweetheart I'm so sorry," He frowned and ran his hand over my messy hair. "I guess I should have known better than to tell you something while I was kissing you," He sighed and gave me an apologetic look.

"You can't do that anymore," I warned.

"I promise I won't. I'll even tell you the day before!" He showed me a small smile that I couldn't not respond to with my own smile.

He just leaned over me and smiled, "I'm such an idiot. Is there anything I can do for you to help you feel better?"

I thought for a minute and finally came to a conclusion, "I want you."

"Oh, well, I think I can get that for you," He grinned flirtatiously and slowly leaned down to place a long awaited kiss on my lips.

His arms snuck around me as if to pick me up but I stopped him, "Don't you think the bed is getting a little dull?"

His eyes lit up and he grinned like a maniac, "I thought you'd never ask."

I laughed as he picked me up and walked into his bathroom. "The shower? Are you serious?" I scoffed.

"Hey, you said the bed was getting dull. The shower should heat things up. And yes, that pun was intended," He gave me a smile that made my heart beat twice as hard.

* * *

"I'm going to faint from heat exhaustion Edward…" I coughed as I leaned against his bare chest.

His chest was rising and falling hard, but broke its rhythm when he laughed, "That water certainly isn't helping. Should I turn it down or off?"

"Down. I need to cool down." I smiled at him and pushed my wet hair off of my neck.

When our energy had completely left us, we'd just sat down against the back wall of his shower. He'd turned the water on right before he'd shoved me into the shower with all my clothes on. Now we were just sitting there beside each other in our skin.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" He joked.

I laughed at the expense of losing any breath I'd caught, "Don't make me laugh! I can hardly breathe as it is!"

He just smiled and hugged me from the side, "I think we should go look at dresses for you."

"I don't need a dress. I have the one from Arizona and I've worn it two or three times. When am I going to wear another one?" I grinned.

"I meant a wedding dress dear," He spoke like a proper Englishman.

"Not to try and offend you but I already bought it." I cringed as he pushed his jaw down to make it look like he was shocked and offended, "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday. That's why I pulled myself away from you in the first place," I smiled and tried to pull myself up only to realize I had no strength to.

"I guess we're sort of stuck here for a while if we can't even stand up," He laughed loudly and squeezed my thigh.

I squealed and pulled my legs up to my chest, "Don't do that!"

"What, you're ticklish?" He smirked.

"No, I just wasn't prepared for that," I clarified and gave him a smart smirk.

My cell phone started ringing in the kitchen and we were both surprised we could hear it. I pushed up on my arm and gave up rather quickly, "They'll have to leave a voicemail." He nodded and started kissing me again.

* * *

Over the next few days he kept asking if he could see my dress, but I patiently kept reminding him it was bad luck for the groom to see a bride's dress whether it was on her or not. "Well I certainly don't want to break wedding protocol," He joked.

After asking me to see the dress for four days, he managed to ask a different question, "Have you gotten shoes to go with your dress?" I gave him a menacing look and he just laughed, "Bella, you can't avoid me buying you things forever. I just want to buy you a pair of shoes, how do you plan on paying for your dress and your shoes if you're not working?"

I huffed and realized he was right about that, but I still had some money saved up, "I'm not flat broke. I still have money…" He gave me an annoyed glance but quickly laughed and hugged me.

* * *

We went to the mall one day out of sheer boredom but he didn't ask me about buying anything; he seemed to understand I wanted a little of my independence before he went on to buying everything for me.

"Why don't you go look for a tux or something?" I suggested as we walked by another shoe store.

"I was planning on wearing the one from Arizona…unless you think I should get another one," He put his arm snuggly around my waist; I saw the looks girls gave Edward, but he never noticed them.

"Maybe you can just get a new tie or something," I grinned.

"All right, I'll go and look at ties then…I'll hate being away from you every single second," He sighed and walked slowly away from me.

I had a picture of my dress on my phone so I had something to compare shoes to; I just couldn't figure what pair of shoes could possibly stand up to my gorgeous dress. I'd managed to look in some other stores without actually going in; he noticed me looking around so I had to make it seem like I was just making casual glances.

When I showed the picture of my dress to one of the women working, she was naturally ecstatic and began showing me almost every white shoe in the store. I came down to a pair of satin, peep toe stilettos, they were absolutely gorgeous and just walking around the store a few times, nothing seemed to rub my feet the wrong way so I bought them.

My eyes almost bugged out of my head when she told me they were eighty five dollars. Geez, I almost wished Edward were here to buy them, but I would have insisted on finding a cheaper pair. Ultimately I was happy with my purchase, and after walking out of the store, I walked down to basically the only store in the mall for men's formal wear. He was browsing through ties but he didn't look very enthusiastic; as a matter of fact, he was staring at the ties like they were estranged, foreign objects.

I walked up behind him and squeezed his waist. He stood straight up and spun around, "Geez Bella, don't scare me like that!" He laughed and hugged me, suddenly seeming much more animated about the ties.

"Sorry about that, so have you picked one out yet?" I inquired as I looked at all of the ties. "I don't know what color I should get because I don't know if our wedding has a color theme or what!" He huffed and gave me a look that begged me to help him.

I smiled sympathetically and told him to get an ivory tie, "There's a ribbon on my dress that's ivory. So we can match a little bit." He picked it up and took it right over to the counter. I rolled my eyes at how willingly he obeyed.

* * *

Once we were walking back around the mall, he finally asked me about my shoes. "The girl in there tried to show me every shoe that was white but I finally found a pair I liked. I just hope I can wear them with something else, they were almost e-" I stopped myself from revealing the amount and he gave me a curious look.

"Afraid I'd try to pay for something that cost just as much?" He laughed adorably.

"Not quite…more afraid you'd try to pay me for them or something," I rolled my eyes jokingly.

We went to the food court and after we got our food and sat down to eat, his face changed and he seemed annoyed by something I couldn't see.

"Why do you look like you're mad at everyone?" I smirked at him as I sipped my sweet tea.

"It's not everyone…there are just a lot of guys looking at you. I don't like it," He huffed.

"I guess it would help if I wore that huge ring you got me," I smiled.

"Yes it would. I wish you would wear it more often, I got it just for you, you know. I'm not just marking my territory, I'm declaring my insanely passionate love for you," He grabbed both of my hands and kissed the tops of them.

I pulled one of my hands away and pulled my ring out of my beaten up purse; I slipped it on my finger and smiled when his face relaxed, "Are all of those guys still looking?"

"Only a few…" He laughed quietly and looked at the ring on my finger.

The rest of our time at the mall was just the two of us in our little bubble. "I wish I could get you something to show all of these horrible women that you're mine," I said softly to him.

"Women are looking at me? I mean, I know you said you thought I looked good today, but honestly I thought I looked like a bum or something." He almost blushed.

"No, you look quite dashing," I sent a dangerously flirtatious smirk up to him.

"Oh, don't smile at me like that Bella…you don't want to know the consequences," He leaned down to my ear and spoke with clarity and an edge of caution. I shivered as his warm breath hit my skin.

My phone started ringing as we walked out to his car in the very full parking lot. I pulled it out and saw Yvette was calling me. "Hello beautiful, what's up?" I laughed.

"Hey Bella. Nothing too much…my arm kind of hurts though," She sounded a little down. "Oh, I'm sorry, what happened? Did you hurt yourself?" I went into my concerned sister mode.

"Oh, nothing too major…there's just this rock hanging onto my hand and it's so tiring carrying it around all day!" She laughed.

I stopped in between two cars and felt my adrenaline start to pump, "Yvette…are you saying what I think you're saying?" Edward gave me a confused look as he was on another side of a car.

"He proposed!" She screamed exuberantly, "Jackson finally proposed!" I screamed with her and began jumping up and down.

"Oh my god finally!" I laughed.

"Oh you hush, not everyone can get engaged in two months," she joked devilishly.

I scoffed and couldn't keep myself from laughing, "So how did it happen? Where were you?" Edward grinned at me as he continued walking towards his car.

I followed him as I talked. "He took me out to dinner last night like he does every month, but he seemed really on edge and I was almost afraid he was going to break up with me!" She replied dramatically.

"No!" I gasped.

"Yes! But then in the middle of dinner he stood up and came over to my chair and just…kneeled down and pulled the ring out!" She squealed excitedly again.

I grabbed onto Edward's arm as I jumped up and down in excitement, "Yvette I'm so thrilled for you! Do you have any idea when you two are going to-"

"No, we haven't even talked about setting a date yet! But I was so in the mood to plan everything out last night because of you picking out your dress and everything!" She laughed.

"Oh man, I bet so. Well freaking congratulations!" I smiled so broadly it hurt my face.

"Thank you! Oh-I have to call the other girls and tell them. We have to go out together and celebrate!" She squealed and hung up before I could tell her goodbye.

Edward was just grinning wildly at me as he waited for me to notice neither of us was in the car, "Good news from a friend?"

"Yes! My friend Yvette– well– her boyfriend finally proposed to her! We've been expecting this for a few months now, but now that it's finally happened, I can't believe it happened!" I laughed happily and tried to open the door; the door was still locked.

"I certainly hope your weddings don't fall on the same day," He laughed and unlocked his car.

We both got in and I immediately leaned over towards him and gave him a deep kiss, "Can I just say thank you for loving me?"

He smiled and kept kissing me for a minute, "No need to. The pleasure is undoubtedly all mine." I blushed lightly and rolled my eyes to hide the embarrassment in my eyes.

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_**THE END.**_

No, I'm just kidding. hahahaha. XDDD I'm just in a good mood today. :D Gonna get a facial in a bit. Hoping I might see that guy today that I told ya'll about last week...my hopes are a bit slim but hey, you never know. Argh. WHY CAN'T I HAVE HIS PHONE NUMBER? AAAHHHH. lol. So frustrating.

ANYWAY. Tell me what you thiiiiiink! :D

*ShiningStarr*


	32. Chapter 32: Panicked Party

Here is your new, weekly chapter, as promised. :)

If you all are good little boys and girls and give me _**10+ reviews,**_ I will give you a _**new chapter BEFORE next Sunday**_. OMG. :o

And just to let ya'll know...I'm pretty sure I'm in love. It's crazy awesome. The problem is that he doesn't know I love him. *dramatic sigh* I'm having a fanfiction of my own in real life. hahaha.

_**DISCLAIMER: I am not a multi-millionaire named Stephenie Meyer, therefore, I don't own the Twilight characters. I own this plot though!**_

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Chapter 32: Panicked Party

The girls and I were out celebrating Yvette's very recent engagement, a.k.a. two days ago, at a local club we went to for celebrations. We'd never actually gone out to celebrate my engagement, but I didn't want to take away from Yvette's night so I told them not to drag me into the spotlight.

We all went onto the dance floor together and had a blast, that is, until guys started to hit on us. Some guy that tried to dance with Elisa nearly got punched in the face, but we pulled her away from him as her arm came back. I'd left my ring back at the apartment, afraid I'd lose it, but clearly it was a mistake to; several guys tried to dance way too close to me and every time Elisa would step in between us and tell the guy to back off.

"Maybe we should pretend we're dating each other!" Margot laughed after one incident.

"Yeah, but then guys might ask us to make out!" Yvette laughed pretty hard.

The songs kept coming and we kept dancing until our feet hurt; we went up to a small lounge area we'd reserved to party in and sat down.

"Oh my god, my feet are going to be swollen tomorrow!" Elisa groaned.

"Why did we wear heels to go dancing in a club? That's go to be the most ridiculous logic ever!" Margot groaned sarcastically as she slid her shoes off for a minute.

I smiled and sighed, "At least we have somewhere to sit down without worrying about guys hitting on us."

"It's a compliment though; we're still young and gorgeous!" Yvette grinned wildly.

"None of us are twenty-five yet; of course we're still young and gorgeous!" I grinned and shook my head.

The four of us chatted on loudly so we could hear each other over the music, but as we scanned the dance floor to look for people being way too raunchy, I saw Sterling and a couple of his friends walk through the main doors. "Sterling's here!" I cried angrily.

All three of them immediately saw him and glared.

"What's that jerk doing here?" Elisa growled; she held the strongest grudge against him.

"There's no way he could have known I'd be here, so it has to be a coincidence." I offered.

"Do you want me to go beat him up for you?" Elisa grinned.

"No, but thanks for the offer. What time is it anyways? I told Edward I'd be back before the sun was up." I didn't have a watch, because who wore watches anymore?

Margot pulled out her phone the fastest and her eyes almost bulged out, "Holy crap, it's almost four in the morning!"

"What?" Yvette cried nervously, "Oh crap, I told Jackson I'd be back by four at the absolute latest." She huffed and stood up.

Margot slid her shoes back on and we all made our way to coat check to get our jackets and purses (if we'd brought one).

I managed to miss seeing that we went right past Sterling so when we were a little more than halfway across the floor, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back, "Bells! Hey, how are you?" He had to yell right next to my ear so I could hear him.

"I'm being left behind by my friends!" I pulled my hand away but he caught it again, "They can wait a few more minutes!" His smile suggested he'd already started drinking and I was in no mood to deal with a drunken ex-fiancé.

"Please let go, I really need to leave!" I shouted angrily.

I'd forgotten he was just as strong as Edward was, so I wasn't able to get away from him. "Come on, one dance won't hurt you!" He pulled me disgustingly close to his body and I finally managed to elbow him just above his waist.

I dashed through the crowd before he could recover from the blow and the girls were looking around for me, "Sterling wanted to talk." They all rolled their eyes and Margot handed me my jacket.

"He didn't do anything did he?" Elisa asked threateningly; honestly, I didn't understand why she was so eager to hurt him.

"He tried to make me dance with him so I elbowed his stomach," I shrugged. They all laughed and howled at me.

"Go Bella!" Yvette gave me a high five as some cabs pulled up.

Yvette and I took a cab together since we lived near the same area and the other two girls got their own cabs. Our conversation in the cab just sounded like two tired, drunk girls, but none of us had had anything to drink that night. Usually I was the designated driver, but tonight we just wanted to dance.

* * *

When the elevator finally climbed all those floors, I was starting to feel my evening's activities catch up with me. I took my shoes off and sighed in relief when my arches fell back into their normal places.

I opened the door to find him on the couch watching the television. He turned his head and laughed, "You look absolutely exhausted."

"That's what dancing in heels for five hours will do to you," I sighed heavily and rubbed my hands over my eyes only to find black smudges on the back of my hands.

"Oh, I like that look on you," He grinned and came over to hug me.

"Please don't say you're in the mood. I can barely function right now as it is," I smiled lazily.

"No, you just look cute," He picked me up bridal style and carried me back to the bed.

My smile was plastered on my face as he got me into bed and pulled the sheets over me, "Am I going to sleep in these clothes?"

He laughed and threw the covers off of me, "I can take them off of you if you'd like."

"Maybe I should do that," I smirked and sat back up.

Honestly, I was too tired to care that he was in the same room when I undressed and put my pajamas on, but when I turned around, he was already in the bed with his eyes shut. "Edward, are you asleep?" I cooed softly.

He opened one of his eyes and grinned, "Not yet. Just waiting for you."

I nearly fell back onto the bed I was so tired, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight sweetheart," He kissed my lips briefly and just hugged me to his chest.

* * *

Fast forward about three months later and I was astounded Edward and I still felt so in love. We'd had our tiny disagreements now and then, but never a loud argument; we never felt the need to get mad at each other over something we'd both roll our eyes at later for being so stupid. Also, after those same three months, our wedding was starting to take shape.

Since I had hardly anyone to invite to my wedding (neither of my parents had siblings so that eliminated aunts, uncles, and cousins in one blow) and Edward had quite a few family members, we'd called up the people I was planning on inviting and asked if they would want to fly to London for our wedding.

Naturally, Edward's parents were thrilled we'd be getting married over there, instead of humid California. They offered to pay for my parents, but as I'd told Edward, they wouldn't let them pay a cent. We'd nailed down the date for September the first, just before fall could start. We'd get married in the Lutheran church Edward had been going to since he was a baby and I rather liked that idea; at least he'd be somewhere familiar.

We'd agreed to try and keep the wedding pretty simple, not too many flower arrangements except where absolutely necessary, and one of Edward's college friends would play the organ in the church for us. I wasn't too hot on the idea of an organ, but I didn't want to try and hire a four man orchestra or anything like that.

Of course, Edward's parents were also insisting on paying for the reception and my parents really couldn't argue against them because they didn't know anywhere to have a decent reception in London, not even counting the fact it'd cost more turning American dollars into Pounds.

So somewhere around five months before our wedding, Yvette had started to plan hers and she was clearly freaking out about it. She wanted to hire a coordinator but didn't know who to hire, and when Margot mentioned a theme she almost burst into tears. I suggested she talk to my coordinator, Joanne; she happily agreed to.

I was pleasantly surprised when she informed me she loved the woman and had hired her after talking to her for ten minutes. All three of us secretly sighed in huge relief when we'd found that one out.

* * *

When our wedding was about four months away, Margot asked us all to meet her at the park to hang out. We were all surprised at the unexpected invitation because we had never met in the park for a group outing. She looked nervous when we found her sitting on a bench near the park entrance and when we got up to her, her eyes showed the fear she tried to hide.

We had to get her up and walk her around for a little bit before she finally caved and dealt the blow we hadn't been expecting, "I'm pregnant." Of course we all gasped in shock; we'd never expected something like this to happen; all four of us, we were always careful.

"Margot, when did you find out?" Elisa sat her down on a bench as we all gathered around her.

"Two days ago…I had eaten something and maybe five minutes later I was throwing up. My emotions were out of whack and I cried _because_ my emotions were out of whack. So I finally went to a drugstore and got two of the tests just to be sure. They both came back with clear results…" She was trying not to cry but doing very poorly at it.

* * *

Edward wasn't in the apartment when we got back home and I was glad of it. Margot had gone on to tell us that Steve had said he didn't want a child right now. Margot told us she was thinking about having an abortion but we all talked her out of it and told her just to give the baby up for adoption if she couldn't handle the stress.

I just needed some time alone, to think.

Unfortunately, I was only alone for about twenty minutes when he came strolling back in with grocery bags filling up his arms. I dashed over to help him and when all the food was put away, he grabbed my hands and pulled me over to him, "You're upset about something?" I nodded and hugged him tightly. "What are you upset about Bella? You know you can talk to me," He kissed my forehead softly.

"Margot told us today that she's pregnant and her boyfriend Steve doesn't want a kid." I sighed heavily; I felt so depressed all of a sudden.

"Oh good god, is she all right?" He tilted my head up so he could stare down into my eyes.

"She wanted to get rid of the baby but we told her just to give it up for adoption if she couldn't handle it on her own." I squeezed him tighter and suddenly wanted to cry for Margot.

"Sweetheart, I'm so incredibly sorry. Is she taking this okay?" He mumbled into my hair.

"Elisa invited her to stay at her place for a few days so she doesn't have to be alone with all of her emotions…Steve hadn't broken up with her but he doesn't want to see her while the baby is still in her," I felt a tear make it's way down my cheek and melt away into Edward's shirt.

He didn't speak for a minute, but when he did speak, he addressed what I'd been thinking, "Does this scare you Bella?"

"A little…we're still just so young and I don't want to have to try and bring a child up in this city and everything," I huffed. He nodded understandingly and held me for a while.

* * *

That night we were sitting closely to each other on the couch as we watched some documentary that came on the History Channel. It was something called 'In the Shadow of the Moon' and I found myself leaning forward with interest; Edward stayed back against the couch but his chin was in his hand as he watched keenly.

"Could you imagine being on another planet?" I mused excitedly when a commercial break came on.

He laughed and looked out the window as the last bits of light faded from the sky, "That would be something else. You could hold up a finger and hide the world behind it." He held his fingers up and covered something up outside.

"More than that I mean…the weightlessness would be so cool, not to mention you could jump up pretty high if you wanted to." I grinned and looked out the window with him.

As the credits rolled, I became positively sure I wanted to buy that documentary…if I remembered it later. Edward was being positively distracting as his hand ran tantalizingly slow up and down my back.

He got me in the mood all too easily and we quickly found ourselves attached at the lips and at the hips. When he started pulling my shirt up around my ribs, I got the sudden image of me with a large bump on the front of my body; I felt like someone had shocked me and my reaction had been to sit up away from him.

My reaction made me feel slightly embarrassed; he and I were always so careful about physical intimacy so I shouldn't have worried like that.

"Are you all right?" He asked softly as he sat up beside me on the couch. The disappointment of losing a wild escapade with me was evident in his eyes, but not on his face.

I couldn't be mad at him for that, so I just sighed and nodded a few times, "I'm just being stupid…overreacting or whatever."

"Bella, it's all right. I'm not ashamed to say the same thought crossed my mind almost the same moment it must have for you." He hugged me tightly and kissed me cheek.

* * *

As we fell asleep, he pulled me tightly against his body and wrapped his arms around my stomach. The action made me self-conscious and I had near nightmare-ish dreams about pregnancies gone horribly wrong that night.

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Okay, weird place to end, I know. But that's where I ended it when I originally wrote the chapter alllllll those months ago, haha. So, how do you feel about this chapter? It's kind of the black sheep of the chapters in a way. XD It's just a very different emotional overtone. All the other ones, thus far (mostly) have been all "ohmigosh you're so hot i want you" and this one was like "EMOTIONAL DRAMA! AHHH!" XD I'm so adept at descriptions, aren't I? HAHAHA.

Anyway. Let me know what you think. Your thoughts count as a review, and _**10+ reviews gets you a new chapter BEFORE Sunday.**_

***ShiningStarr***


	33. Chapter 33: Love On the Rocks Please

Sorry I didn't put this up on Sunday! I'm the best procrastinator EVER and I wait until the day before things are due to actually do them. Sunday I spent most of the day drawing fashion figures and then yesterday I spent 10 hours sewing up a jacket a dress. It was intense. I just have to work most of tomorrow so I don't have any homework to do until tomorrow night, haha. See? I'm an awesome procrastinator. XD

Anyway, thank you to everyone who replied! I didn't get a chance to reply because of my crazy busy schedule (oh college...you consume my life), but I appreciate your reviews more than you know! :) A special shout out to _**motherduckatschool**_ for reviewing like...5 chapters. I love you. hehe.

**10 REVIEWS PLEEEEEEASE?**

_**Disclaimer: I only own the plot of this story. Stephenie Meyer owns pretty much everything else, hahaha.**_

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Chapter 33: Love on the Rocks Please

With our wedding approaching (it was two months away now) my nerves grew more frantic every day and I hoped it wasn't because I was freaked out about getting pregnant before the big day. Edward could sense my anxiety but couldn't do much because we both were still too hot for each other and couldn't stay away for more than a few days at a time. He'd told me that the week we were in London was torture for him having to watch me but not being able to do much else besides that one afternoon.

I'd decided to try and get a job in the marketing field to occupy some time instead of sitting at home doing almost nothing but yoga and occasionally cleaning. After a few days of searching and interviews, I was starting work at a marketing firm near MGM Studios. Needless to say, I was nervous and had no idea what to wear, "Edward, I'm going to throw up. I don't think I can go."

He just laughed and pulled me over to the closet in our room that was now half full of my clothes, much to my dismay, "Bella, it's your first day, they're not expecting you to know how to do everything. Besides, they hired you so they obviously saw something they liked. If you'd only let me take you out to last week to buy a new outfit or something. You really torture me you know." I rolled my eyes and finally pulled on my black pencil skirt and sleeveless lavender top I'd gotten in London.

"I suppose you won't let me drive you there either?" He sighed as I slipped on some black flats and picked up my bag up off of the floor.

"No, I'd rather not have everyone there thinking I make my fiancé drive me everywhere like a chauffeur." I grinned and gave him a tight hug.

"Do you want to go out and celebrate your first day tonight?" He asked happily as he ran his hand through my freshly washed and dried hair.

"Maybe…depends on if I'm tired or not," I shrugged flirtatiously and gave him a goodbye kiss.

* * *

When I arrived at the building, I was nervous every step of the way to the elevator and every step down the hall to glass door stating the name of the company. I walked in and was greeted by the receptionist, a fairly pretty girl with a sultry voice.

My supervisor or boss (whatever you want to call him) was in his office going through a thick folder. He looked up when the receptionist opened the door and smiled, "Ah Bella, did you get in okay?" I nodded dumbly and stepped in. "Great, well have a seat and I'll tell you about what you'll be doing today." He cleared off a chair for me to sit in and began talking rather fluidly.

About half an hour later, I was finally sitting at my little cubicle area with an amazing view of Hollywood. Today I was basically setting everything up in my little working area until lunch when there was a meeting to talk about ideas for an ad that a company had hired us to come up with.

I sat on the edges of the room, being the newbie, and just listened for the most part. My boss, Billy, introduced me to everyone before the whole meeting and asked me to tell everyone about myself. After that I just sat down and shut up; I got the feeling that the people sitting at the table were the ones who usually came up with all of the good ideas.

Not having used my college degree in a while made me feel a little rusty on all of the terms and artistic jargon being flung around the room. I listened to what everyone said and tried to determine who was the one who came up with the best ideas.

When the meeting ended I went back to my cubicle and was barely in my seat when a woman in her late twenties came over to talk to me, "Hi Bella, my name is Rosalie Hale!"

She seemed bubbly enough so I gave her an enthusiastic smile back, "Hey Rosalie, it's nice to meet you. I liked your ideas in the meeting by the way, have you been doing this long?"

She nodded, "I wouldn't say long, but I've been here for about five or six years. It took me about two years to get a seat at the table so don't worry about it." It was like she sensed my stress and picked out the cause.

"Oh…yeah I didn't really say anything because I'm a little rusty on the whole business…I majored in Marketing and Advertising in college but it's been a little while since I was there," I laughed.

"Well, if you ever want help or need advice, I'm down this little path, the third cubicle on the right." She grinned widely and sort of bounced her hair before walking back to her area.

After meeting a few guys who looked a little too interested, I wrote down in my new planner to wear my ring from now on…maybe. I was still shy about wearing that huge piece anywhere in public. I know Edward's intentions were good, but he just didn't realize how gaudy it was and how little I like being noticed.

* * *

While I drove home, I went past some street where a herd of paparazzi were swarming and saw Lindsay Lohan with a couple of shopping bags on her arms. Just another notch on the celebrity bedpost, so to speak…in a weird and awkward way.

I kicked my shoes off once inside the apartment and Edward leaned out of the bathroom letting steam pour into the hallway, "Hey, I'll be out in a minute!"

"Are you making the bathroom into a sauna?" I joked and put some water to boil on the stove. He laughed and leaned back in.

Halfway through my green tea, he came out of the bathroom in his loose black jeans and carried his shirt in his hand, "How was your first day?"

"Much better now that I'm home," I grinned.

"Oh come on," He laughed and kissed me, "how was work? Was it worth being away from me for so long?"

"Nothing is ever worth being away from you…but at least I've found something to do with all of this extra time. Besides…maybe I can start helping you out with rent?" I offered.

"I can pay for this place just fine…or should I say my parents can?" He joked.

I rolled my eyes again and downed the last of my tea, "What are you getting your degree in anyways?"

"Global Communications…which was just a random subject I chose that let me travel," He smiled and sat down in the kitchen in the chair beside me.

"So, not to sound prudish or overbearing…but are you going to live off of your parents your entire life?" I asked quietly, but seriously.

"No, I'd get terribly bored being alone all day without you while you're out working." He grinned.

"So what's your career of choice?" I smiled quaintly.

"I've thought about writing books about traveling…or writing books about cultures of different countries. That would also give me an excuse to travel other than pleasure." He laughed warmly and put his hands behind his head.

"Speaking of travel," He cleared his throat and his face became serious, "have you given anymore thought into moving to London with me after we're married?"

I sighed heavily, "Not a whole lot I guess…I didn't even remember you'd suggested it until now."

He gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I don't know Edward…it's just so far away from my lifestyle and everyone I know. Plus, I just got a job! How can I just up and leave after three months of work?" I huffed sadly.

"You do know your firm has a branch in London?" He grinned lazily.

In all honesty, I did know that, I just didn't know how I felt about moving six thousand miles away from my life. Then again…it felt like Edward was my life, so why would I ever want to be away from him when he so obviously missed his home?

"I'll just have to think about it, okay?" I smiled half-heartedly and sighed.

"Try not to sound so depressed. I'll think you're not excited about the possibility," He joked and stood up.

I laughed and got up to put my mug in the sink, "It's a big decision for me, okay?"

He nodded and wrapped his arms around me from behind, "You still have two months to decide."

I turned around within his arms and smiled up at him, "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Me? Seduce you? What would put such an idea in your head?" He gasped in mock horror.

I laughed and placed my hands on his finely tuned arms, "You just took a shower."

"Yes, I know, I was in there not too long ago," He laughed enthusiastically and pulled his shirt off of the table.

He'd begun to pull it over his head, but I stopped him and grinned. "Oh, so you don't want me to put it on, huh?" He grinned my favorite heart-pounding smile and pulled the shirt off of his head and let it drop back on the table. I shook my head and pulled his head down to kiss him.

As we moved back to the bed, my phone rang with Margot's ringtone and I immediately knew she was calling because she really needed to talk. I gently pulled myself away from Edward and dashed over to my purse, "Margot, hey, what's up?"

She sighed heavily before she spoke, "Steve is threatening to break up with me if I don't…if I don't have an…" She started crying too hard to talk and my heart broke for her.

"Margot, sweetie, are you okay? Where are you? Are you at home?" I slipped my feet back into my shoes and grabbed a random jacket off of the coat hanger.

"Yes I'm at my apartment…but you don't have to come. I just needed to talk to you…" Her sobbing made it clear she'd only get worse the longer she was alone.

Edward caught my hand before I shut the door, "Where are you going?"

"Margot is upset and I need to go over to her place." I said in a rushed voice.

"But-…" he sighed and nodded, "All right, go."

My drive to Margot's apartment seemed unusually short but I'd sped the entire way here so that probably explained it. She let me in as I knocked impatiently on the door and immediately embraced me. I hugged her as the door shut behind us and sighed, "Look, it's up to you if you want the baby or not. I still say you should have it and put it up for adoption; I know there are couples out there waiting for a baby they can't have on their own."

She nodded, "I tried to tell Steve that but he said he doesn't want to be around me when I start to get bigger." A fresh wave of tears spilled from her eyes so I steered her to her couch and went into her bathroom to get a wad of toilet paper for her to wipe her eyes off.

I called the other two girls but Elisa was still working so Yvette was my only ally. When she arrived, we both comforted her and tried to talk her into keeping it, but her love for Steve was bearing down onto her decision.

"You want to have kids eventually, don't you?" Yvette asked softly. Margot nodded and wrapped her arm across her stomach.

"And Steve doesn't?" She asked for affirmation. Margot nodded her head again.

"Well isn't that sort of a conflict of interests? If you want kids and he doesn't, there are going to be arguments about it in the future. Why not try to find a man with the same interests as you?" She pleaded.

"Because besides that we basically do have all the same interests," She huffed miserably.

"Would you be willing to give up your dream of children for his dreams of no children?" I asked notably.

They both looked up and over at me. Margot's eyebrows drew downward in confusion, "I don't know…I just felt like he'd be a great dad…but knowing he doesn't want kids is liking saying he doesn't want to see color or something." The three of us laughed at the odd analogy but it lasted for a short moment.

"Has he ever had contact with babies or young kids in general?" Yvette prodded innocently.

Margot thought about it for a minute and shook her head, "No…he says he can't stand them…I just don't see how he can't be absolutely enthralled by the idea of having one of our own?" She huffed and rubbed a hand over her still flat stomach.

"Why don't you try making him interact with babies? A girl I work with had a baby a little while ago…maybe I could arrange for you guys to meet her somewhere so he can see what having a child is about. Would you like that?" Yvette wrapped her arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

Margot's eyes wandered over to me, "What do you think? Do you think he'd go for it if I told him what we were doing?"

I smiled softly, "It's Steve we're talking about, the less he knows, the better, as it usually is with guys!"

She nodded and looked back over at Yvette, "Yeah, I want him to meet her."

My heart seemed to be lifted of a small burden for her and I couldn't suppress the hope surging up within me that Steve's mind could be changed. I also had to hope the baby would behave around him so he could see how adorable babies were.

* * *

It was almost midnight when I got back to the apartment and Edward was already in bed, sprawled across the entire surface. I giggled quietly and changed into some of my pajamas; as I got into the bed and moved his limbs to his side, he seemed to waken just long enough to pull me tightly to his chest and kiss my shoulder before becoming still again.

I found myself unable to go to sleep for a little while as I thought about Margot's problem and my own: Edward was obviously open to the idea of having kids…really it was only me that was hesitant on the subject along with moving to London with him.

Once I'd turned my head far enough to look at him, I smiled and sighed silently. Truly and honestly I'd do anything he asked me to; when you were this crazy in love with someone you couldn't say no to a whole lot of things. However, he'd never specifically asked me to move with him; he'd asked me if I would want to and when I was given the option, it became another thing entirely.

If he'd merely asked me to move to London with him and persuaded me with his killer technique like he had to make me go on that road trip, I would have packed my things up that night.

Maybe if he weren't so willing to please my needs before his I would have had an easier time with this.

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OH MY GOISH. DRAMA. Drama drama drama DRAMA.

Drama Llama. ACK.

Okay, I don't know what that was. I must have accidently inhaled something, hahaha.

_PLEASE REVIEW_. PLEEEEASE. HIT THAT REVIEW BUTTON. RIGHT NOW. It's right there! _

***ShiningStarr***


	34. Chapter 34: Here, Now

So...I haven't updated in...3 weeks? I sincerely apologize! I forgot to update 3 Sundays ago and then the Sunday before that I couldn't update because I went on vacation to Florida (I WENT TO HARRY POTTER LAND. AHHHHHH) and then this past Sunday I had too much homework to do and I didn't have a whole lot of spare time to update. So here is this week's chapter!

If you want to review, please do. More reviews motivate me to update faster! I'll still post another chapter this week anyway to catch up a little bit. :)

_**Disclaimer: I disclaim to own the characters in the story. I claim to own the plot. The end.

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Chapter 34: Here, Now

The wedding was one week from today and I was still going back and forth in my mind about going back to London with Edward or not. Clearly he wanted to go back to his home but he wouldn't leave without me and I didn't want to keep him here because of a comfort zone.

Perhaps some of the only un-stressful thoughts I had to hang onto were the fact that Steve was finally supporting Margot's decision to keep the baby; after two hours around an adorable baby boy, he'd changed his mind. My parents were flying into London tomorrow and I was glad of it; I needed my mother to help calm me down with all of these wedding jitters flying through me.

In fact, I was so nervous about the wedding and the honeymoon that I'd insisted Edward and I abstain from each other for the month before the wedding. I wanted it to feel something like a pure wedding and an actual honeymoon instead of just another vacation with him.

He was always trying to get me to go back on this month long celibacy but I held firm to it; I was partially over-worried I'd get pregnant and I didn't want to have that on my mind with everything else going on.

Edward's mother was finally treating me like one of her own and it was an extremely pleasant change from the last time I'd been here. After I'd told her about my admiring her first edition copy of Alice in Wonderland, she'd gone positively mad with excitement.

My three best friends weren't flying in until the day after my parents came so I only had to endure this anxiety for that much longer. In fact, I was anxious about everything to do with our wedding. I was constantly checking to make sure everything was how we'd wanted it to be and I also tried my dress on twice a day to make sure still fit.

"One more week and I get to have you all to myself," Edward sighed as we said goodnight to each other at my guest room door.

"You already do have me all to yourself," I smiled.

"Perhaps…but this will make it official. I also get to give you another ring and you have to wear it for the rest of your life," He grinned cunningly.

My mind whirled as I pondered how ridiculous this one would be, "You know…I wish you would have at least let me pay for yours. I don't think you know how horrible that makes me feel." He gave me a look and I realized how ironic my words were.

"Okay, okay, okay I get your point about wanting to pay for things I buy, but this is totally different!" I made a stubborn face.

He pushed me back into the room and shut the door so we wouldn't wake his parents, "Not really…but just think of it as payback. Besides, I think you'll rather like the rings I picked out for us. I'm still upset you hardly ever wear the engagement ring I bought for you." His frown had my lips against his in a matter of a few milliseconds.

His hands wound up through my hair but I managed to pull back before he could completely demolish my self-control.

"Will my wedding ring match the engagement ring?" I inquired to distract him.

"Of course. Now would you please stop talking so I can seduce you?" He laughed right before he pinned me against my door.

I threatened to scream, not in a horror movie way, if he didn't leave the room so he begrudgingly left after one more kiss. He called me once he'd gotten into his room so I laughed and picked up the phone, "You're a mess without me aren't you?"

He groaned, "I hate being away from you Bella! Going a week without you was hard enough but it's been three weeks now! I'm going insane and the amount of passion that's building up inside of me is going to completely explode when we're on our honeymoon. I just thought I'd let you know so you'd be prepared for an insane amount of time in the hotel room!" I started to laugh so I pushed my face into my pillow to stifle the noise.

"Just think of it like this: you'll appreciate me that much more once I'm legally yours." I replied alluringly.

"Stop talking like that," He mumbled in an irritated but loving voice, "or I'm coming over there and ripping your clothes off."

I shoved my face down into my pillow again before calming down enough to speak, "You are such an adorable Brit."

"That's why you're marrying me, isn't it? Because of my accent!" He scoffed jokingly.

"Yeah, I don't find anything else about you attractive except your voice." I replied with a scoff.

* * *

The next morning, I was woken up by Edward nibbling at my neck. My reflexes kicked in and I shoved myself away using his chest to push against, "You know my neck is sensitive!"

He grinned, "I know, that's why I was kissing your neck while you were sleeping." I couldn't help but to smile until I realized I probably looked like a mess.

"So what time do we go pick up my parents from the airport?" I asked as I ran a brush through my tangled web of hair.

"In about three hours I think. Are you sure you can't persuade them to stay here? We have a few extra rooms around here and I'd hate to think of them spending more money than really necessary to be here," He spoke louder so I could hear him from my bed.

"I'll ask them once we're in the car on our way here," I leaned back out the door and grinned at him.

"Oh, Bella, you're a devilish woman, aren't you?" He narrowed his eyes alluringly and I lost my train of thought for a moment.

"I'd rather them stay here too. I'll be less anxious with them around." I sighed.

"I'm sure you could invite your friends to stay here if you'd like," He offered.

"They'll be going in and out all day and most likely stay up way past the official bedtime of this house." I pointed out.

"True…and I don't know how many Americans my parents could stand to have in their house. No offense, of course." He added nervously.

"None taken. I was overwhelmed at living with the three of you last time I was here. You're so much more proper here…tea between meals and whatnot." I grinned and walked out of the bathroom as I put some lip gloss on.

"Sometimes being so proper gets annoying. Americans are so much more open and honest…sometimes to the point of being rude, but you know what I mean. I love being less formal around people…" He drifted off into a train of thought as I picked out something to wear for the day.

Once I'd pulled on a navy, uniform-looking dress that buttoned all the way down the front, I turned around and looked at him as he stared at the wall. "We've fallen in love with each others' worlds I think." I smiled as he blinked and looked over at me.

"Maybe I'll write books about that…what attracts people to foreign cultures." He laughed and sat up off of the bed.

"Yeah and I'll design book jackets for you," I joked as I pulled on some white flats to wear around the house.

Here was one thing I had to give to London: you didn't have to look too hard for an outfit to make you look classy.

* * *

We went down to breakfast only to find that his parents had gone out to eat breakfast. When one of the maids came into the room, Edward asked why his parents had gone out. She responded that she'd heard them say it was just to give the two of us some time to be by ourselves and, as a side note, she added they probably wanted to buy new flowers for the house since my parents were arriving.

Once we'd started eating, Edward rolled his eyes, "My mum refuses to cut flowers out of the huge garden in back and insists on buying them…I can't understand it."

"Well, she'd probably start to notice where flowers were getting cut and maybe she doesn't want her garden to look like it's been cut apart?" I suggested.

"Maybe so…I've never thought of it that way," He smiled and took a strong sip of coffee.

* * *

My parents didn't hide the huge smiles on their faces as they nearly jogged toward us and embraced the two of us at the same time. We led them down to get their luggage as everyone began talking. "The flight over was great, Bella! Even the food on the plane was good!" My dad smiled happily.

When we got to the parking garage, Edward had to kindly remind my father that he had to go to the other side of the car because the steering wheel was opposite here. Conversation kept sparking up because of stores we'd pass or because of some statue they'd recognize from a movie. The only issue arose once we'd pulled into Edward's driveway; my parents realized we hadn't been going towards their hotel that Edward insisted he knew where it was located.

"Bella, we've already told you we're fine staying at a hotel!" My mother gave me a stern gaze as she shut the car door.

"What's the point? I'm more comfortable having you guys stay here and it'll cut some costs for you." I argued.

"I assure you, my parents have absolutely no disagreement or qualms about you staying here," Edward argued smoothly.

I was already staying here and I was nodding my head agreeing to stay from the way he asserted himself. My parents seemed to fall under a somewhat similar state to mine and finally went inside carrying their suitcases. Again they were surprised when the butler and the maid carried their things for them.

Perhaps the second biggest shock was when it came time for lunch and they finally got to meet Edward's parents. I was incredibly nervous about that moment because I feared my parents would act too loosely for them; however, my fears disappeared when the two couples began to chat almost immediately. Maybe mine and Edward's exposure to each other's parents had prepared them for what our parents were actually like. Whatever the case, I wasn't going to argue.

The next day when my friends arrived, I was immediately relieved but then became shocked with all three of them had their boyfriend/fiancé/husband with her. I greeted everyone warmly and Edward got to do another round of meeting with the three guys who all knew the other two but had never met Edward.

After they'd gotten to their hotel rooms, we all went out to lunch at a fast food restaurant to save money for shopping later. "I can't imagine how it was to grow up here!" Elisa sighed jealously.

"The same way it was to grow up in California?" Edward joked.

"Actually, Elisa, Edward and I had this conversation after we first met. We decided we couldn't understand why either one of us would want to leave the place we'd grown up in," I grinned at him remembering that moment in time.

"You want to leave California?" Yvette gasped dramatically.

Seven pairs of eyes were on me, including Edward's curious gaze just waiting for my answer, "Well…yes and no…I'd like to get out and see the world, but I'd hate to leave you all behind."

"But what about your job?" Margot questioned.

"Well um…"

Edward was just smiling at me behind his hand as I fumbled to find any justification; for some reason Edward decided to bring the subject up that I didn't want him to.

"I've actually asked Bella to move back here with me after we're married. She's yet to give me an answer though," He didn't stop smiling at me as my three girls gasped; their boys all knew me so they were mildly interested in my response.

"Bella, you're leaving us?" Margot's eyes started to water.

"No!" I huffed and glared shortly at Edward, "Like he said, I haven't given him an answer…I don't know if I want to move or not. As for my job…my firm has a branch here…" Margot began to cry silently and wiped her eyes off with one of the napkins, "I can't believe this!"

Poor girl, she'd been a little more sensitive with all of those extra hormones running through her. Elisa seemed to be the only one with her feet still on the ground, "You've got a little less than a week left…won't you have to make that decision soon?"

I looked over at her and smiled weakly, "Yes…but…Edward is graduating after we get back from our honeymoon so that gives me a little more time."

I couldn't bear to see his face as I spoke because I knew he'd probably look a little crushed that I was so hesitant about this.

"Actually, Bella," he cleared his throat, "I've already turned in my dissertation and I'm graduating two days before the wedding…I was going to mention it to you later but…I guess I'm telling you now."

"So…you mean she only has until the wedding to decide?" Yvette's voice went up half an octave on that question.

Edward looked at her, then back at me with a confusing gaze, "Yes."

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AHHHH. DRAMA LLAMA. haha.

Sorry, I just love using that phrase. So tell me your thoughts and innermost feelings...about the story, I mean. XDDDD

Review. Tell me what you're thinking about, pertaining to the story. I'm cuuuuurious.

*ShiningStarr*


	35. Chapter 35: Truth Hits Late

ARGH, I know I said I was going to post another chapter last week, but my schedule is just busy and stressful right now. I know I'll at least put up my new chapters each week! Sorry readers! I really do appreciate you reading but I'm focusing on what needs to get done before I spare time for more superfluous things like . I'm not saying I don't care about this, because writing is one of my favorite hobbies, but my school work and my job are going to come before this.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound all rant-y. XD And I know I didn't respond to any reviews this week. Again...priorities and time. Ugh, I hate saying that to you because **I APPRECIATE AND LOVE ALL OF MY BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, WONDERFUL REVIEWERS! **

**Just make sure I get 10 reviews every week, hahahaha.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight characters in this story, but I own the plot. Now, Sign here X_

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Chapter 35: Truth Hits Late

Holy crap, why didn't Edward tell me about this when he turned his paper in early? Dropping this bomb shell on me in front of my best friends was almost harsh; I just had to keep my cool until I was away from them…which wouldn't be until later tonight when we were finished shopping.

I couldn't really speak for all the thoughts clouding my ability to form a coherent sentence; everyone else decided it was time to go shopping so I followed everyone else out the door with Edward's hand on my back.

Edward directed my over-eager gal pals into the stores they wanted to see and they tried to pull me along into the fun but my brain couldn't get past the fact I had to decide to move here or not within the next five days.

* * *

For a few minutes at a time, I managed to pull my head out of my cloud of thoughts to join in the fun with my girls. At one point, Elisa pulled some clothes off of a rack just to get me away from the guys back into a dressing room to talk to me. "Bella, honey, do you want to talk about this?" She sighed as she put the hangers on a hook.

"What can I talk about? Edward wants me to move here with him!" I huffed miserably.

"That's something pretty substantial to talk about sweetie. Do you even want to move?" She sat me down on the couch inside the oversized dressing rooms.

"I…crap Elisa I don't know! I mean, I love him with everything in me and I want to be wherever he is…but how can I leave behind everyone else I love? Like you and Margot and Yvette. What about my parents? What about everything I'm comfortable with back home?" I let my head drop into my hands.

"Bella, your whole life has been about blending into the background and just going with the flow. You never really started making decisions to make yourself happy until you met this guy!" Elisa pointed out.

She was incredibly right and more than she knew. "If you love him then be with him. Don't let anything else hold you back!" She pulled my head up, grabbed my hands, and squeezed them.

I smiled limply and sighed, "I'm scared of leaving you guys though…I mean I've known you all for a while now and I haven't even known Edward for a year! How can I give up my life for this guy?"

"Because you're insanely in love with him and if you're not with him you'll go just as crazy. I had a hard time leaving behind my friends and family to move down here with my husband, but I did it because I loved him and moving here was going to give us a better future." She said inspiringly.

I groaned and fell back into the chair, "I've been living with him for months and now I'm scared of living with him in London."

"Maybe you're just nervous about being married to him?" She suggested and stood up.

"No, I'm fine with that. Getting married is a formality really…I already knew I wanted to be with him forever…it's just…the idea of moving away from everyone and everything I know…it scares me." I stood up slowly and straightened out my dress.

"You know we'll visit each other at least once a year," she winked at me as she stood in front of the huge mirror in the main part of the women's dressing area.

So maybe I had my answer now: yes, Edward, I'll move to London with you, but I'm going to be scared out of my mind! I didn't want to tell him yes until I was happy with the decision, but would that happen before the wedding?

* * *

Once we'd arrived back at his house, we put our bags in our rooms and went downstairs to see if anyone was home. Our parents had gone out for dinner and since it wasn't time for us to eat yet, Edward pulled me out to the garden in the back.

He held my hand as we walked through the garden that I hadn't realized was so large. Neither of us spoke as we hadn't all day since lunch and it was starting to wear on me. "Edward, say something!" I whispered.

"I love you," He looked over at me and smiled.

I stopped and hugged him, "I love you too."

I wanted so desperately to be excited to move here with him but I couldn't feel it yet…would I before the wedding? Ugh.

All at once his lips were against mine and I felt myself being pressed against the ivy-covered, stone wall around the edge of the garden. I couldn't keep my faint cries of relief inside and silent, they came out loud and clear.

"I don't know how much longer I can stay away from you," He pulled his lips away for a moment to say that and laugh, then his lips were there on mine again.

My fingers ran up from his neck into his hair and locked on. The ivy that pressed against the back side of me was so thick it almost felt being pressed against a firm mattress covered in leaves. If not for the restrictive hem of the dress, my leg might have been further up his leg than it was.

When his lips left mine and went to my neck, the cries that came from my mouth got louder. "Sshh, Bella! The neighbors will here you!" He laughed very close to my face. I let out a cry of disbelief and pulled his lips back to mine.

Our fiery enthusiasm was extinguished when it sounded like someone coming up the path and we only realized it was the wind blowing the bushes. By the time we'd come to such a realization, we realized how stupid it was of us to do this out in the open and quickly went back inside.

Edward told me to fix my hair once we were inside and realized no one was home at the moment except for the hired help. We laughed quietly as we went upstairs to our respective rooms to change and fix ourselves up for dinner.

If we'd known neither of our set of parents would be back until almost four hours after we'd come back, we might have spent a little more time alone in a room together than just for dinner.

But sooner, rather than later, it was the night before the wedding and I was still trying to find my motivation to feel happy about living in London with Edward.

I was thrilled to see him graduate because he just looked so happy once he'd walked off of the stage. I knew I wanted to see the same look on his face when I gave him my good news, but if I gave it to him with a frown on my face he wouldn't take me seriously.

* * *

As I was lying in my bed huffing and sighing every few minutes trying to go to sleep, my mother came in and sat on the side of my bed. It reminded me of when I was younger and I'd call to her because I couldn't sleep; she always came and talked to me to comfort me until I could sleep. This time I didn't even call her but she knew to come, "Bella, sweetheart, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes…" I smiled and sighed.

"Don't sound so happy about it!" She joked.

"It's just that…well, don't freak out, but Edward wants me to move here with him after we're married." I sighed and sat up.

"Why would that bother me?" She almost laughed.

"Because I'd be moving six thousand miles away! That doesn't scare you?" I was honestly shocked.

She laughed quietly, "Bella, you're a grown woman. You moved away when you went off to college. We don't get to see you that much as it is. I've missed you since the day you left home. It won't matter if you're ten minutes or ten hours away, I'm going to miss you just as much. Besides, I figured this was going to happen when I first met him."

"You did? How!" I demanded.

"Well he'd told us he was just here for a year and after he graduated he'd be moving back to London most likely…and knowing you two were getting married…it wasn't hard to put together. I've been preparing myself for this for a few months now." She smiled serenely.

I sighed heavily, "I'm going to tell him tomorrow I'll move here with him but…I can't find it within me to be excited about it. I'm just scared!"

"Once you say your vows and put the rings on each other…trust me sweetie, you'll find all the excitement you need." She grabbed my hand firmly.

"You think so?" I smiled hopefully.

"I'm your mother, I know I'm right!" She laughed quietly and kissed my forehead before standing up. "Now go to bed so you don't look like a mess tomorrow for your big day!" She teased. I rolled my eyes and said goodnight as she walked out the door.

Sleep came pretty easily after that conversation and I welcomed it with open arms.

* * *

I was woken up by my mother shaking my leg and calling my name, "Isabella wake up! You have to start getting ready!"

I rolled over and groaned, "Can't I sleep for thirty more minutes?"

"No! It's already eleven thirty!" She laughed and opened the curtains on the windows in the room. That certainly caught my attention; my eyes shot open and I sat straight up in bed and looked around the room like I'd lost something.

She started my shower for me and once I'd gotten in, she shouted through the door that my hair appointment was in ninety minutes. I groaned loudly and shaved my legs as fast as I could without missing spots. I left my hair dry because I was going to go have it done, so what was the point in washing it now when they were going to wash it there?

We had to rush to get there because there was a wreck on the way and if I was late it would take away time on my hair; we couldn't afford that. Once I was in the chair (five minutes early might I add), I let out a large breath and tried to relax.

"Did you want any highlights?" The pretty blonde hairstylist asked, "They'd look good in your hair. Perhaps some light brown?"

I'd always wondered what I'd look like with highlights so I smiled and said, "Sure!" She smiled back and pulled out a tray of white mixture she'd already had prepared.

* * *

An hour and a half later, my hair had been barrel curled and was up in a loose, yet elegant chignon near the base of my head with a curl or two hanging down on my back. After that, we had about an hour to eat lunch before I had to go get my makeup done. We went to a café and I had to force myself to eat an entire plate of salad; my stomach was wreaking havoc on my nerves, or was it the other way around?

My mother hurried me off to the Sephora store in a cab and I tried to remain calm as I realized my wedding was mere hours away. We kept the make-up as simplistic as we could, the only slightly drastic change to my face was the make-up put on my eyes. The woman with richly dark brown hair lined my eyes with dark brown eyeliner and smudged on some taupe on my eyelids and put some on just below the eyeliner on my lower lid. When she turned me to face the mirror, I couldn't believe I was looking at myself. Maybe it was narcissistic of me to say, but I was astonishingly gorgeous. I'd never felt like this in my life.

By the time I was finished with the hair, the make-up, and a small dinner around four, it was time to head to the church with two hours to spare. "Oh my god, mom, I'm going to throw up," I mumbled when we stepped out of the cab to the church.

"No you aren't, salad is mostly water." She joked to try and lighten my mood; it helped a little bit.

"Mom, can't I please go and find Edward? I'm nervous and I just want to talk to him to try and calm down!" I begged for the tenth time.

"I told you no the first nine times. You'll be spending a lot of time with him after the wedding!" She grinned. I couldn't help but to grin at that, I'd probably never let him out of my sight again for at least a month.

My three girls finally came into my dressing room and we all squealed and hugged like third grade girls. All three of them were dressed in their lavender bridesmaid's dresses and I just about wanted to cry, "You all look so beautiful!"

"Bella, if you start crying I'm going to slap you!" Elisa joked.

I laughed and fanned my eyes to stop the tears from coming up, "Sorry, I think my estrogen level doubled in the past hour."

"Wait, why are we dressed and you aren't? You're getting married in twenty minutes!" Yvette scoffed and unzipped the bag holding my dress. They practically ripped my clothes off to get me in my dress and make any necessary final judgments. My nerves got more nervous and I was bouncing in anticipation, "This is killing me!"

A knock on my door made all four of the other women in the room jump to the door in case it was Edward trying to sneak a peek at me before the ceremony, it turned out to be my dad. He, of course, marveled over me and made me tear up pretty seriously, "Bella, you're still supposed to be five years old!" My three friends stepped out of the room to get in position and to give my parents and myself some time together.

I nodded and looked up at the ceiling to stop the tears, "Dad, please don't make me cry. I can't go down the isle looking like a zombie bride or something!" We all laughed just to ease our nerves, but soon my mother had to leave to take her place in the front pew of the old church.

I clutched onto my dad's arm as we walked out into the hallway to stand at the back of the line. Some of Edward's cousins were the flower girls and they were so incredibly adorable I almost giggled. I grinned at them when they turned around to look at me and they were the ones to giggle before turning back around.

Suddenly, the ancient organ came to life in the sanctuary and my stomach plummeted. The doors opened to let my bridesmaids through the door with their guys so I flipped my veil over in front of my face and tried to remember a steady rhythm to breathe at.

Now it was my turn to go through the doors, we just had to wait for the 'March of the Bride' song to start playing. I was taken by surprise when 'Canon in D' started playing instead and I couldn't remember if I'd asked Edward to let that be played instead.

I had no time to think anymore, I had to remember how to walk and when my dad slightly tugged at my arm, I held my bouquet where it was supposed to be and suddenly my feet were moving.

Edward was standing up where a pulpit should have been and I almost gasped aloud at how absolutely stunning he looked. I smiled to myself when his jaw dropped about half an inch; I couldn't imagine how nervous he'd been all day, this was the first time we'd seen each other.

Faster than I realized, I was walking up the steps and my father placed my hand into Edward's who gave me an abashed smile before turning to nod to the preacher.

Holy crap, I was getting married!

* * *

AAAAHHHH! I know that's the worst place EVER to end the chapter...but I guess I'm sort of evil like that. HEHEHEHE.

So anyway, today was Election Day! If you were old enough, I hope you got out and voted! Sadly, my homework barred me from voting. UGH. Homework always gets in the way. XP

But besides that, _**REVIEWWWWW**_.

P.S. I know quite a few of have asked me about an Edward's POV. I didn't write any for this story, but I'd love to do one! Review and tell me what chapter you'd like to see done the most and whatever I get the most votes for...I'll try to accomodate you all. XD

*ShiningStarr*


	36. Chapter 36: Let's Get Down to Business

My apologies for the month-long absence of updating. The last part of this semester has been crazy and time consuming (also, my other laptop I used for writing died, being that it was 5 years old, but I had everything saved on an external harddrive!) so I was focusing on that. I thank you all for being patient with me and **I'll post more if you review en masse**. XD

Disclaimer: I don't own the names or characters related to Twilight, but I own this plot. Okay? Okay!

* * *

Chapter 36: Let's Get Down to Business

It took a tremendous amount of concentration to try and hear what the preacher was saying while Edward and I were gazing heatedly into each other's eyes. When I had to repeat the wedding vows, I was nearly shocked at how smoothly my voice came out. Not to be outdone, Edward's voice came out velvety smooth and I wanted to lay one on him pretty badly.

Finally, I slid a sterling silver wedding band onto Edward's ring finger and when he put the slender band on my finger, he let his fingers tickle my palm just enough to make me grin.

When we had to exchange our 'I do's I silently mouthed 'forever' to him and he could only grin like a fool since he had no veil to cover his face; that would have been weird if men wore veils in a wedding.

The moment came when the preacher told Edward he could kiss his bride, so I was prepared to blush like crazy for when he pulled me tightly to his chest and kissed me intensely. I was surprised, but not disappointed, when he gently pushed the veil back over my head and let his hands form to my jaw to give me a short, but slow and sweet kiss.

It was like I'd woken up when people started cheering crazily. We both laughed and stood there for a moment before he pulled me down off the stairs and outside to the limo to take us to the reception.

On the way to the party, we just sat in the back seat and kissed. I could sense the urgency in his touch and wondered where we would break the ridiculous month-long fast from each other. He seemed to wonder the same thing because neither of us knew where we were going. Edward's parents had paid for our honeymoon and had made a point not to drop any hints to either of us where we'd be heading.

Five minutes away from the building for the party, he stopped kissing me and leaned his head up, "I can't believe how absolutely gorgeous you are Bella…I thought I'd seen your most beautiful moment the night I proposed…but this beats that by a mile."

I blushed and ran my hand over his satin lapel, "I almost ran up the aisle to kiss you…I've never seen you look so _sharp_!"

He grinned in a faux snotty way, "I did look rather dashing, didn't I?" I laughed and hugged him tightly as we came to a stop.

When Edward helped me out of the limo, I heard people on the street gasp. My cheeks flushed and I looked up at Edward only to see a delighted grin on his perfect face. I thought I even heard a few cameras click as I went in the door.

How was it that almost everyone was here before we were? We left before they did. I quietly voiced my question to Edward and he grinned, "We didn't come straight here…I told the driver to take a slight scenic detour." I laughed and kissed him as we walked into the ballroom where our reception was.

Every person in the room erupted into a loud cheer and confetti seemed to pour on us from nowhere. Edward and I were pulled apart as people embraced us and congratulated us on a spectacularly beautiful wedding. Was my wedding coordinator even here? I didn't have time to find out as we sort of got passed around the room and somehow managed to end up at a long table up on a stage sort of area. We sat in the middle of the table with our parents beside us and then our friends on either side.

* * *

Many toasts were given and then it was time for us to have our first dance as husband and wife. I had completely forgotten about this part until now and I was suddenly trying to remember how many steps were in a waltz. "Edward, I forgot we had to dance," I mumbled as we walked to the dance floor.

"Don't worry; I had to take dance lessons when I was growing up. I'm a good leader," He assured me as we got into the proper beginning stance; at least I knew that much.

"Remember, three steps in a waltz…I'll spin you around a few times but don't worry, I won't let you fall," He smiled my absolute favorite smile that was worthy of a toothpaste commercial as we waited for the music to begin.

Some classical piece began to play and I couldn't take my eyes away from Edward's, which was probably a good thing because I forgot anyone else was here and I was dancing without realizing it. The first time he twirled me I laughed a little bit, but the second time felt like there was nothing to it; he was an excellent leader.

Eventually our parents started dancing and gradually the whole floor filled. For the next song, everyone cleared the floor again so my father and I could have our last dance together before I moved away-oh crap, I hadn't told Edward my decision which now seemed like an absurd thing to be scared about. Of course I wanted to move here with him!

My father wasn't quite as graceful as Edward had been, but he held his own until Edward and my mother got on the floor and started waltzing more complicatedly than we had. "When did mom learn to dance like that and why did she never teach me?" I scoffed as my father and I watched in amazement.

"She knew how to dance when I met her…I guess you just never needed to know how to dance like that and you never asked. Your uh…husband seems to know a thing or two…you could ask him," My father seemed uncomfortable terming Edward as my husband.

Oh my god, Edward really was my legal husband now; this whole day seemed freakishly odd now.

* * *

After another hour of dancing with various people (including one good pop dance song with my bridesmaids), we all sat down to eat. This time I found my appetite was strong and a little raging.

My father stood up with my mother to give the second to last toast for the evening before Edward and I left for our unknown honeymoon location. They did the knife tapping the glass routine and smiled around the room before my father's voice rang out across the room.

I was in tears by the time my parents finished talking and I was thankful to find out my make-up was waterproof. When Edward's parents stood up, they nodded to my parents and gave a speech a little more formal and talked about meeting me for the first time… thankfully they left out the part about the library encounter. They talked about their first impression of me and then how they came to realize I was a wonderful girl and all that jazz. Honestly, Edward and I wanted to find out where we were going for our honeymoon.

"And now the moment everyone has been waiting for," Edward's father announced regally, earning a few laughs. He pulled out an envelope from his jacket and held it for a moment before handing it to Edward who looked at me for a moment before grinning and tearing it open from the side.

We both found the location at the same time and laughed excitedly, "Greece?" Everyone cheered and clapped as we all hugged our parents (new ones included) but I didn't realize we had to leave to catch our flight until Edward was shouting at me to 'come on!' over the roar of the crowd and pulling me through the throng of people throwing rice at us.

I waved a final goodbye to my parents and winked at my three best friends in the entire world before we got back into the limo. "We're actually going back to my parents' house first to change and get our bags…we'll have to rush though, not too much time before the plane leaves," Edward spoke excitedly. His urgent kisses reminded me of what I'd wanted to tell him since I saw him from the back of the sanctuary.

I tore my lips away from his with much effort and held him off long enough to make it known I wanted to say something, "I've wanted to tell you since the ceremony began…I'll go anywhere you are. If you want to move back here then consider me there with you. I won't be anywhere you aren't anymore." I laughed happily as his face softened into a graceful grin.

"Bella, I adore you so much. You don't know how happy you've made me today," He gave me a firm kiss as we arrived at his house.

We rushed up to my room where both our sets of clothes were and had to stave off the urge to throw each other onto the bed. My outfit was a white skirt that came down to my feet and flared out at the bottom enough to make the fabric fold over on itself all around and a purple tank top with a black, knitted sweater that clung onto the tops of my shoulders. I slipped on the black slip-on Ked's and ran downstairs to catch up with Edward who had gotten out of his suit twice as fast as I'd gotten out of my dress and everything.

He still looked amazingly handsome and laid-back in a new plaid button up shirt and pair of baggy, distressed jeans with a pair of black, high top shoes that looked to be from the 80s.

He gave me the once over and grinned, "The sooner we get there the better. It's a good thing our flight won't be too long either or we might've joined the mile high club." My face went red as we threw our bags into the trunk and jumped back into the limo.

We made out all the way to the airport and made it back to our gate with fifteen minutes to spare. "Edward…" I said softly as he looked out over the crowd nonchalantly.

His eyes immediately found mine and he smiled at me, "Yes, love?"

"I…I can't even say how much I'm in love with you right now…there're no word I can say to describe this feeling inside of me." I laughed effortlessly.

"You complete me Bella," He whispered in my ear with a faint sound of desperation, as if he'd been so desperate to have me or something like that.

Once we boarded the plane, I could tell it was going to be longer than the flight to London because of the anticipation building up every second we didn't take off. When the plane finally took off, I tried to distract myself with an in-flight movie but Edward's hand firmly grasping mine was a big distraction.

* * *

An entire day seemed to have gone by when we landed but it was only a few hours really, if that. We finally calmed down once we were off the plane mainly because the atmosphere was so different than London. It was warm and sunny here, but the sun was starting to set. We hurried down to get our baggage and although I wanted to get to the hotel as fast as possible, the way people drove here made me afraid I'd never get to the hotel.

Imagine our surprise when we pulled up to a villa instead of a hotel. The cabbie helped us get our bags inside the villa, so we tipped him extra and walked to the door. Edward cleared his throat as I turned the door knob to go in, "Aren't I supposed to carry you across the threshold?" I grinned and let him pick me up and carry me in.

"Edward, do your parents own this place?" I asked quietly as if a voice too loud would make the house crumble apart.

"I don't know…" He responded just as quietly as he let me stand up.

We looked around the tall main room and then when our eyes caught, we dashed upstairs and began to do what we'd been starving for, for the past month. Needless to say, we spared no expense on the noise since Greece was a city for passionate lovers.

* * *

I woke up the next morning absolutely exhausted and felt a little sore like I'd done an intense yoga session the day before. I rolled around a few times trying to go back to sleep but discovered I'd become too enthusiastic about my marriage yesterday to go back to sleep. I opened my eyes with a wide smile on my face and sat up looking around for Edward. He hadn't tried to pull me into a hug while I'd been rolling around so I assumed he was up already.

After putting on some shorts, I walked around the villa until I found him out on the balcony in the other room looking out at the town. The curtains across the doors to go out were open so I watched him for a moment before knocking on the door. He turned his head and unleashed that amazing smile of his; where did he learn to do that?

When I opened the door to stand beside him, he took my hand and kissed it. I blushed when he put his cheek against the back of my hand and shut his eyes. It was like he was a prince treating me as if I were as regal as a queen. "Edward," I remarked shyly and pulled my hand away.

He laughed and gave me a confused look, "You're embarrassed by_ that_ after everything you and I did several times yesterday?"

I squealed and hugged him, "I know I shouldn't be embarrassed but I can't help it! I'm a newly wed girl, how am I just supposed to get rid of my old habits?"

He wrapped his arms around my neck and smiled, "I guess I'd miss the lovely shades of red you turn if you stopped being embarrassed."

"Now that you're up…would you like some breakfast?" He asked as we walked back inside.

"Not quite yet," I bit my lower lip playfully as we walked past the bed in the guest room.

* * *

OMG. tehehehehe. Newlywed people, seriously. XD

so, you may be thinking, "aw, how sweet! they go married, she's going to move to London with him, happy happy happy, yayyy!" right? WRONG. well...sort of, haha. It's all happy yay yay right now, but do you REALLY think I'd leave it there? PSH. of course not! There is more drama to come so **stayyyy tuuuunnneeeddddd**...

_**Make your authoress happy and review, please?**_

ShiningStarr

P.S. Have you all seen the pictures of Rob and Kristen filming down in S. America? ahhh so excited! Bella's white bathing suit will be sold out for a while after that movie comes out, seriously. OHHHH, and have you seen the promotional shot for B.D. of Bella's handful of feathers? OMG. That made me giggle. XD


	37. Chapter 37: Love Me Now

So...I'm a little upset right now. The Farro brothers have left Paramore (in case you haven't heard already). I found out last night and I've been kinda bummed since then. But hey, hopefully, since they couldn't find what they were looking for in Paramore, they'll find it in whatever other endeavors they have.

Back to FAN FICTION. YAY. So...I think I got like...3 reviews on the last chapter? I know I didn't post for a month, that's my bad, but come on. That's just pathetic._** I**** KNOW more of you are reading than there are people reviewing**_. Just review, please? :D

I promise, when I get 10 reviews, I will post the next chapter. I won't wait for next week. I'll post it when I see that 10th review.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Not the characters. You know the drill.

* * *

Chapter 37: Love Me Now

Edward and I spent the first two days of our trip in the villa; after a month of depriving ourselves of each other we felt like we had to make up for lost time. He eventually decided he wanted to see other beautiful things in the city besides me.

Yes, he'd actually said that.

We walked around and took pictures for a while, just enjoying the views mostly. I was wondering if I was just enjoying the view because he was in it or because I knew what would be happening after we got back to our villa. Either way, I couldn't have been happier to be here with the most perfect man I could imagine. He looked over at me as I was thinking and ran his fingers down the side of my face onto my neck, "What are you thinking about?"

I smiled up at him before looking down at the ground, "Oh, nothing in particular." I laughed quietly as I looked out over the perfectly blue water.

"Are you hungry yet? My stomach is starting to ravage my body!" He grinned and hugged me from the side.

"Ooh, that sounds horrible! Maybe we should go get a big pizza for you!" I laughed and patted his stomach.

As we wandered down a busy little street, we caught a drifting scent of pizza and followed it to a pizzeria. We got in line and waited to order, so in the mean time the both of us just listened to all of the Italian chatter in the room. Once we got to the counter, Edward asked what I wanted on the pizza. "Pepperoni." I nodded. Edward smiled and turned to the rustic Italian man behind the counter to order in Italian.

Since when did he speak Italian?

"When did you learn Italian?" I scoffed as Edward gave the man his name to call for him when the pizza was finished; they made all the pizzas fresh here.

"Eh, I took Italian for a year in prep school…" he shrugged as if it weren't amazing he still remembered it and talked so smoothly.

"Well…you sounded quiet fetching you know," I tried to mimic his accent but I hadn't gotten any better from my last attempt all those months ago.

He laughed loudly and kissed me as we sat down at a table, "Maybe once we've lived in London long enough you'll start to sound like me without even realizing it. Otherwise you're going to hurt everyone's ears talking like that!" I scoffed and frowned.

"Please, Bella, don't have that look on your face!" He immediately went into protective mode; I had to admit I thought it was kind of cute. I pouted and crossed my arms childishly, but was surprised I wasn't kidding all the way. What he'd said had slightly hurt my feelings.

He moved his chair to my side of the round table and put his arms around me as I turned my face away from his. "Please don't be angry with me." He begged quietly as he kissed my shoulder.

The brief contact of his warm lips against my shoulder made me shiver involuntarily, "Then please don't insult my linguistic skills. Not everyone can be as talented as you."

He turned my head around and gave me a look that seemed to say 'oh please'. "My dear sweet wife, you are far more talented than I am. You can _do_ things but I can only _say_ things," He sighed disappointedly.

"Well I don't know about that," I gave him a dangerously flirtatious grin, "There are several things you do rather well."

"Oh, like what?" His smile reappeared.

"There's this one smile you do, it's my favorite…but you only do it when you're really really happy, like two mornings ago when you were outside on the balcony and you turned around and saw me…Every time I see that smile on your face I want to throw myself at you." I laughed quietly.

His eyebrow went up in extreme interest, "Oh really now? Hm…I'll have to try and remember to remember what my smile feels like when I'm really really happy." I stifled my laughter as he leaned in to kiss my neck. "What else can I do particularly well, in your opinion?" He asked as his lips trailed lower down my neck.

"You have quite a talent to persuade me…and you should know what else you do well," I wiggled my eyebrows at him which made him laugh again.

"Great, I smile, manipulate, and have sex well." He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Don't complain; it won me over!" I grinned and gave him a heavier kiss than I'd thought I would.

Once our pizza was finally ready, the man behind the counter called out, "Eduardo!" When Edward had stood up, I was about to tell him that wasn't his name but I remembered we were in Italy. He came back with a steaming hot pepperoni pizza on a huge wooden plate. My mouth watered and I realized I was pretty hungry by this point so I took a bite into a piece right as Edward cautioned me to wait because it was hot.

I dropped the pizza back onto the plate and fanned my face from the heat in my mouth causing my eyes to water; I couldn't spit it out because that would be incredibly rude. Edward held out a napkin for me so I took it and spit the pizza into it. "Oh my god!" I coughed as I took a large breath in through pursed lips.

"Are you all right? Did you burn your tongue?" He asked worriedly as I wiped the tears off of my cheeks.

"Don't know…can I have some water please?" I asked right as a waiter came over and gave us two glasses of water.

Edward made me keep an ice cube against my tongue in my mouth in case I had actually burned it. I felt incredibly stupid for taking a bite of a pizza when it had probably just come out of the oven. "You should have smacked it out of my hand," I joked once my mouth had cooled off and my tongue was almost numb.

He laughed and took a drink of his water, "Maybe…I just hope your tongue isn't injured…it might hinder those amazing kisses of yours later on." I smiled and took a slow bite of pizza that I'd let cool for about ten minutes.

We didn't finish the whole pizza, mostly because of the size of it. I ate three slices and felt the need to walk around for a while. So after we paid and left, we wandered around slowly, watching people watching us. In a way it felt like we were supposed to be here, as if we somehow fit into this foreign world.

We came up to a wonderful viewing spot by a cliff and took some pictures. "Bella, do you really want to move to London with me? Don't spare my feelings because we're married now," he couldn't not smile when he said that, "just tell me the truth."

"Okay…not sparing your feelings…before the wedding I'd made up my mind I wanted to move here with you, but I was scared out of my mind about it. After we said those vows and you kissed me…there wasn't a shadow of doubt in my mind about my decision. If home is where the heart is, then I want to be where you are," I grinned.

"That was a little poetic for you. Did you come up with that all on your own?" He pulled me close against his stomach and looked down at me.

"No…I suppose I stole it from a band." I made a face at him and put my arms around his back.

"Edward, it's so perfect here. It's like Arizona all over again," I sighed happily and shut my eyes.

The sun was starting to head towards the horizon at this point so everything was starting to turn yellow or gold. "Yeah…it is like that all over again…but this has been insanely better so far. The best part is that I don't have to wish for you anymore and I don't have to wish that I were married to you. And I'm also curious about something…" He bit the inside of his lip curiously.

"Anything you'd like to know I'll tell you," I nodded.

"Well… do you remember when it was the second to last night before we had to go back home from our trip?" He leaned down to my ear and spoke softly which sent a chill down my arms.

"Um…yes," I smiled.

"Do you remember what I asked you that night?" He spoke softly again.

"I can't say that I do…can you refresh my memory?" I asked politely.

"I asked if that if we were married, would you find it any easier to be in that other world with me…my question now is now that we're married…is it easier to be in this little world of ours?" He let his lips graze the outline of my ear which made my eyes blank for a second.

"Yes," I didn't have to think long to figure out my answer, "there are no hindrances this time around. I don't have to worry about the things I did then. I remember now…I told you I didn't think a love like ours was practical in the real world…and that we were just two people in love. Now that we're married it makes complete sense to be in our own little world. We're starting our lives together now."

The intensity of his kiss took me by surprise and at first I just had to focus on standing up before remembering I could breathe through my nose. No one said anything (that I could understand) about our display or made any offended noises, but honestly if they had, I wouldn't have noticed or cared. Those first few days avoiding the blatantly obvious connection between the two of us seemed absolutely ludicrous now; if I hadn't felt such a strong emotion towards him I wouldn't have had to fight so hard against it. If he'd merely been some other guy I wouldn't have given another thought to keeping my guard up, it would have been only too easy.

He let out this satisfied sigh when he stopped the kiss, "How I ended up with a woman as perfect as you is beyond me."

"You think too highly of me sir," I joked and hugged him tightly.

"On the contrary, you think too highly of me my lady. Sometimes I think that you think that I'm some sort of amazingly masculine hunk of a guy…and I'm not." He laughed.

"Edward, maybe you don't dress in polo shirts or black slacks but that's why I like you. You stay true to who you truly are, you dress how you feel, and you don't care what people think about you." I shrugged and let my head rest against his chest.

"Truly, you give me too much credit." He laughed softly and led me back down the cobblestone streets back to our villa.

He drew up a bath in the old bronze tub in our room and put a little too much bubble bath in it. We got in at separate ends and had our feet going towards each other. "Edward, can I ask you something?" I smiled as he scooped up a handful of bubbles and put it on his hair.

"Ask away my love," He grinned happily.

"If you plan on traveling a lot to write travel guides…will you really be at home that much? I mean not intimately being with you for a month was hard enough but being without you physically for more than a day makes my heart ache." I frowned.

"Well you could travel with me if you wanted. Like you suggested before, you could design book covers for me!" He grabbed one of my feet and started rubbing it.

I groaned as he worked out some of my tense muscles in my arch, "I'd just be a hindrance to you while you were traveling. I wouldn't be of much use to help your studies or whatever you'd do."

"On the contrary, you help me relax and loosen up when I'm tense." He grinned and kissed my ankle.

"I have no recollection of ever seeing you tense, excluding the time you came into my apartment when Sterling was there." I huffed while I remembered the day I'd learned a great deal about how caring and understanding Edward was while also learning I had become annoyed by Sterling.

"Do you see me as easy-going all the time?" He laughed as if the idea were nearly absurd.

"Should I not?" I almost felt embarrassed by the way he replied to my comment.

"I'm certainly not relaxed all the time but I've noticed that's almost always when I'm away from you. You exude some sense of peace that I'm attracted to." He smiled happily and hugged my legs to his chest.

While he hugged my legs and had his eyes shut just enjoying the moment, I looked at him just in disbelief I was actually married to such a beautiful soul. He was happy with the simplest of things and offered comments up freely without any sort of provocation. "My god Edward, I love you so much," I laughed at myself.

He opened his eyes and smiled in confusion, "I hope that's a good thing."

I nodded, "I love you so much I feel like I'm going to spontaneously combust!" He laughed and rolled his eyes like he always did when I said something a little ridiculous.

Eventually he came down to my end of the tub and held me until the water started getting cold. "I don't ever want to be anywhere you aren't," He sighed contently as he kissed my shoulder.

"I have to wonder…if I'd known you existed before I met you…could I have stood the wait to meet you or would I have looked for you." I grinned up at him.

"I wouldn't have waited," he shook his head firmly, "no way would I have waited if I'd known you were alive."

If it could have been possible, I would have died from being so overly happy, right in that very spot. To feel so loved and wanted was more than I could ever have asked for.

* * *

AHHHH SO MUCH CHEESY GOODNESS. hahahahaha

_**NOW REVIEW.**_

I know it may be hard to believe, but there WILL actually be more drama. XD  
Don't believe me? Psh. Just stick around and see.

*ShiningStarr*


	38. Chapter 38: Begging for More

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND A WONDERFULLY HAPPY NEW YEAR FICTIONEERS! :D  
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season! I got to spend my Christmas with my dad's side of the family and I haven't spent a Christmas with them since I was a tiny little baby, haha. I had WAY too much pasta, but everyone on that side of the family is mostly Italian so...what can you expect? XD

This story is winding down...only a few more precious chapters left. Enjoy them while you can! I do write a lot of other stuff, but I can't post it on here because you can't write a story about non-fictional people. UGH. I have another quasi 'Twilight' story, but it's from the real world point of view with Kristen and Rob and they talk about Twilight in that story, so I can't post it on here. BOOOOO. Do any of you have accounts on Quizilla? I have an account on there, but I feel like no one ever reads my stuff on there so I don't post anything. if you have an account, shoot me a message and let me know.

_**Remember: 10 reviews! -**_

_**Disclaimer: I only have ownership over the plot of this story, not the characters from Twilight. Don't steal either, it's just rude!**_

* * *

Chapter 38: Begging For More

Two weeks away from any sort of distraction was amazing enough but two weeks away from any distractions and being with the person you loved more than your own life was infinitely better. Edward and I had only been in Italy for four days and I felt like I'd been in heaven for the duration. We couldn't be away from each other and therefore spent every possible moment side by side; even when I woke up and he wasn't beside me because he was in the bathroom, I felt alone and depressed. I'd call for him and he'd rush in wondering if something were the matter.

As well as spending all our time together, we tried not to spend too much time in the villa so that we could say we'd been to Italy and seen everything. Dragging ourselves out of bed to walk around and having to stave off the urges we'd been giving into so willingly became an increasingly hard task. One of the hardest times we'd had resisting each other was when we went to a beach. I hadn't thought to bring a bathing suit, but my three gal pals back home had thought of it for me and had put in some ensembles I was almost embarrassed to look at.

My modesty had to be put aside as I put on my first string bikini since I'd been five or something. Edward seemed to be keeping himself in check but was making my willpower crumble as he lay beside me in a pair of black shorts that were just tight enough to remind me of those gorgeous Olympic swimmers. It didn't make it any easier that he was in pretty darn good shape too.

When I'd finally settled down into the sand on my towel, I sensed that he was very close to me but I wasn't sure of it until I cracked open one eye and found him on his side facing me and looking over my body. I blushed and opened both my eyes, "What are you doing?"

His eyes traveled slowly back up to mine and he grinned as if I'd asked a question with an obvious answer, "I'm looking at my absolutely stunning wife in a horribly seductive bathing suit and it puts me in quite a mood that I can't allow myself to be in. If there were no one else on this beach I'd make love to you right now." His eyes raked up and down my body and I could almost feel where his eyes were on me.

The attention he gave me made me so self-conscious that I found myself believing that everyone was watching us. My breathing quickened just slightly and his hand on my stomach just below my chest made me feel like I was fainting. I sat up and he followed me quickly, "What's wrong?"

"Sorry…your hand was making me feel a little faint." I laughed softly, "You have too much power over me."

"I'd say if you were wearing something else I wouldn't have such a hard time keeping my hands to myself, but no matter what you're in I find you absolutely sexy." He laughed and ruffled his hair with his hand.

I stood up and started to walk toward the water to avoid actually passing out. His arms wound around my waist as I stumbled from wrong footing in the sand. "Bella, don't leave me by myself. I'm so miserable when I'm not around you."

I laughed and pulled him toward the water, "Come swim with me then."

Amazingly enough, he was more hesitant about getting in the water than I was. I finally acted like I was going to get out from annoyance, but managed to get behind him and push him into the water. He stood up out of the water and pulled me down with him, "You evil woman!" I squealed in laughter as he kept pulling me up in the air and falling back in the water with me still in his arms.

After we stopped playing around in the water, we did actually swim but I was constantly afraid one of the strings coming loose and revealing something. We swam at intervals but we drifted more than we realized. We had to walk back nearly a quarter mile to our towels and by the time we reached them, we were both exhausted and wanted to go back to our villa.

* * *

Upon getting back inside of our Italian recluse, we headed straight for the bedroom and fell on the bed going to sleep seemingly on impact. I had pleasant dreams of being in California in Edward's apartment; these dreams impressed a deep sense of nostalgia upon me and though I was asleep, I knew I missed my home.

* * *

I woke up a little before dinner and took a shower while Edward was downstairs doing something he wouldn't let me see. Once I had my hair dried and put on a little bit of makeup, I pulled on a white cotton halter-top dress that hung half an inch off of the floor. "Can't I please come downstairs?" I called through the crack between the door and the door frame. I heard his amused laughter as he finally said I could.

After I'd nearly jogged down the stairs, I stopped at the bottom in a bit of romantic shock. He'd dressed up the dining room into an extremely cozy area with fabric draped across every inch of wall and ceiling to make the room look smaller. His hands took mine and pulled me into the pleasingly aromatic dining room, "I have a bit of a dramatic side in me so I figured I'd do something a little special for tonight." My mouth felt numb as my jaw hung down away from top lip.

When I sat down, I realized we were barely sitting six inches off of the ground which was covered with pillows or something of the cushiony sort. He leaned back and pulled a piece of fabric forward and made some sensual music echo into the room. I gave him a meaningful smile and looked at the empty plate in front of me. "Oh, sorry I forgot I had to bring the food in," He laughed as he stood up and bounded out of the room in a second.

"Did you make this food?" I asked as I forked a piece of pasta stuffed with five different kinds of cheeses.

He laughed, "I wish I had…maybe you'd be a little more impressed with me. No, I had to order this I'm ashamed to say." His whole face went a little pink and it made me smile; Edward was rarely embarrassed enough to make his entire face flush with any color.

"If you knew how impressed I was with you already you wouldn't worry about anything else." I laughed seriously and forked another stuffed piece of pasta.

Once we'd eaten dinner, I found a good reason to thank him for the comfortable padding underneath us: it was comforting to lie down after eating so much. "I wish I had the energy to make love right now," I laughed heartily as I rolled onto my side away from him.

His arm went around me as I'd expected it would, "We don't have to be quite as fastidious as we usually are…taking it nice and slow should be a pleasant change for once." I was glad he couldn't see my face going red even though I couldn't figure out why I was still embarrassed when he talked about sex.

"Maybe…just give me a few minutes to rest," I sighed and shut my eyes.

* * *

My eyes opened rather quickly and I immediately recognized I was up in our room. I sat right up as he came into the room with only a pair of loose pajama pants on; my god how I loved those plaid pj's on him. "Did my fair beauty finally awaken from her slumber?" He smiled jokingly as he crawled on top of me.

I giggled and nodded, "Has my prince come to enchant me with some trifling or other?"

He rolled his eyes and groaned, "You make so many of my efforts to be charming become fruitless." I laughed harder, mostly because his accent just made it sound so much more proper.

"So…how has my wonderful wife been enjoying herself here so far?" He asked curiously.

"Quite well actually…I've been enjoying every single second with you and seeing everything around here with you." I nodded happily.

"I'm glad to hear it. Although I believe we've subconsciously made up our minds to make up for all the sex we lost in that month-long abstinence," He grinned widely. I laughed and covered my face; I wondered if I'd ever be comfortable with him talking about sex in front of me…as odd as that was.

"I do miss California a bit though…my friends and everything," I sighed as he began to kiss my neck.

"Will you be able to part with it when the time comes?" His lips moved softly against my neck as he spoke.

"How soon will that be?" I almost didn't want to ask for fear of the date being too soon.

"Not too long after we have to leave here." He sounded quite regretful when he said that.

"How soon Edward?" I repeated louder.

"Maybe two weeks after we return." He sighed, knowing I wouldn't be happy with it.

For the first time on our honeymoon, I didn't feel like making love to him. Another first was that I actually wanted to be alone which meant being away from him; maybe I was becoming depressed at having to leave my home so soon after going back to it.

Sure I wasn't the biggest fan of the Hollywood area, but it was home to me and I'd been there for a while now.

He sensed my mood change and didn't move until I pushed against his arms for him to get off and let me get up. As he rolled onto his back and let his head hit his pillow, I got up and went downstairs to make some tea.

I'd known this was going to happen sooner or later…I guess now I just preferred it to be later. Yes, I'd made my decision to move with him and after our wedding I was certain I wanted to. Now…with the prospect of leaving my home so soon…I was scared. I knew I'd be happy with him wherever we were, but if we traveled a lot would I ever feel like I had another home ever again?

Edward didn't come down to console me and I wondered if he'd either fallen asleep or felt that I needed some privacy. I missed his presence and decided to tell him what I was feeling at the moment; who knew, maybe he could cure my malady with his wisdom and the power he had over me.

When I reached the bedroom, he'd gone to sleep already. I sighed heavily as I went through my nighttime routine and slipped into bed feeling slightly miserable. It took me about an hour to fall asleep and for that duration, I couldn't stop thinking of my current dilemma.

Here I'd gone and given him my jubilant acceptance to move to London with him and now I was acting depressed over leaving California. Edward was such an understanding person though, surely he must have felt something of the same thing when he went over there to study.

* * *

My eyes finally just shut on their own when they got tired enough and opened when the sun was shining brightly into our room.

Edward wasn't in bed nor did he answer when I called for him in the bathroom. I sighed heavily again and got up to go downstairs to fix myself some breakfast.

Upon entering the cozy kitchen, I saw him standing in front of the stove cooking something but I couldn't see what.

"Good morning," I called sheepishly.

He turned around and gave me a heart-stopping smile, "How are you feeling today sweetheart? Are you rested from yesterday?" I nodded and saw he was making pancakes.

I came over to the counter and saw several pancakes in various shapes and forms on several plates, "Wow, you made a snowman?"

He laughed and nodded as he turned the stove off. "I made too many pancakes I fear. I hope you're hungry," He did exactly what I needed; he embraced me slowly but tightly until it felt like my ribs were being compressed and then he kissed me hard.

He pushed me against the refrigerator and made some noises similar to a wild animal or something of the sort. I laughed as his lips pressed eagerly against mine, but interrupted him for a moment, "We better eat before your works of art become cold and inedible." He grinned and gave me one more soul-refreshing kiss before letting me go and pulling some syrup out of the fridge as well.

"Where did all of these groceries come from?" I inquired as he got out the butter as well.

"I had to go out to get some food this morning…we can't eat out for every meal," He grinned and poured me a glass of milk.

I suddenly remembered I hadn't brushed my teeth so I dashed upstairs and tripped over my suitcase. I groaned as I looked at some my unpacked clothes strewn over the floor, "It's a good thing I don't travel often."

As I was putting my clothes back in my bag, I noticed my little bag of feminine items against the side of my suitcase. I freaked out for a moment afraid I'd missed my period and was pregnant, but when I calmed down and counted I figured I hadn't missed it; however, it wasn't that far away…as in mother nature would stop by any time today now.

This would certainly kill our mood for about a week.

* * *

Okay, slight rip-off from "Breaking Dawn" but whatever, I see people blatantly ripping off the Twilight series all the time, I figured one little moment wouldn't hurt. Besides, it's a slightly comical part, haha.

Anyway: REVIEW. pleeeeease?

Also, I don't know if you all would be interested but...I figured I'd put the offer out there. If you have twitter and want another random person to follow, look me up.  
**Twitter: meggiemonstre**

*ShiningStarr*


	39. Chapter 39: Beginning of the Perfect End

Hope this chapter finds every doing well! We're getting close to the end, so I may be asking for more reviews before I post a chapter. Because I'm evil like that. MWAHAHAHA.

So...if you want the next chapter,_** I would LIKE to have 20 Review**_s. MMHMM. I know there are enough of you out there to do get me that measly little number.

P.S. So...I forgot I had actually written an EPOV...I know several of you all had asked about one and...maybe I had the foresight to know you all would want one. XD SO YAY!

_**Disclaimer: The plot is mine. The characters are not. And we all lived happily ever after. The End.**_

* * *

Chapter 39: Beginning of the Perfect End

*Edward's POV*

Oddly enough, I found myself awake in the middle of the night and it was solely because I was just not tired. Isabella, my absolutely beautiful and perfect wife, was sleeping soundly beside me with her hair laid out behind her head as if for a hair commercial. I sighed as I gazed at her fair complexion made to look even paler with the moonlight streaming across her face.

I stood up out of the bed and pulled a t-shirt on before I went downstairs to eat something. Usually when I found myself in this predicament, I had a bowl of cereal or a glass of orange juice. Being as that we had neither here, I made some green tea; Bella had gotten me used to the drink and now I found myself drinking it even when she didn't.

Looking back at the past nine or ten months of my life made me smile jubilantly; Bella's relationship with me had been a bit turbulent in the beginning but once we got going it was like we'd just found some secret to perfect happiness that no one else had. We had really only argued once or twice but even then we weren't really angry with each other. She was as relaxed a person as I was and I thought maybe that was why our relationship had been so stress free.

When I looked at the bright green numbers on the microwave it informed me it was nearly three in the morning and I looked down at my cup to find all my tea gone. I must have been down here longer than I realized.

My train of thought ran wild for a moment and I couldn't help but to remember how unhappy Bella's face looked when I told her we'd have to move to London merely two weeks after returning from our honeymoon. She seemed so excited when she told me she did want to move with me but now that she knew when it was to happen…Well, why had she gotten so upset?

'Edward', I reminded myself, 'she'd going to be moving six thousand miles away from anything and everyone she's ever known to live with you. Let's not even get into the fact that you're going to have to be traveling a lot once you start up your writing career.' I grumbled and huffed for a while as I realized I didn't want to have to do this to her. Clearly she liked to stay in one place and wasn't too comfortable with change. Now after I'd come along and just swept her up, I married her and asked her to leave behind her entire life for me. How selfish had I become in my relationship with her? I'd been taking up all of her time so much that, once, for a solid week she didn't see or talk to any of her friends. Yes she went to work, but when she came home I kept her all to myself.

The longer I sat there the more I beat myself up and made myself feel horrible for what I was doing to her. Well then, why couldn't I postpone us moving back to London? If she merely needed time to become comfortable with actually moving, shouldn't I be willing to give her all the time in the world?

I looked up when I noticed it was a bit lighter in the room; the sun was starting to make its way to the horizon and was turning the sky purple and pink.

My eyes were tired and I began to realize I was actually ready to go back to sleep. I put my mug in the sink and trudged upstairs. Once I'd gotten into the room I pulled my shirt off and threw it on the floor before getting back into bed.

Bella sighed and put her arm over me; she was warm. I smiled and put my arm over hers, "Take as much time as you need love." She snuggled up closer to me and sighed again, I couldn't help but to laugh. Even in her sleep she loved being as close to me as possible.

* * *

Some sound brought me out of unconsciousness and made me realize I was awake but my eyes weren't open. I thought maybe it was a dream so I listened to the hazy sound as it began to focus in my ears.

Someone was sad…wait, someone was crying, why? My body felt held under by some invisible pressure and I longed to throw it off to find out why this person was crying. My hand clenched around the sheets on the bed and my eyebrows furrowed as the noise clawed against my heart.

Hold the phone; I knew the tone of the person crying. My god, my Bella was crying!

I sat straight up, ignoring the swimming sensation in my head, and looked at Bella's back as she cried while sitting at the end of the bed. "Baby, what's wrong?" My voice sounded mortified and I didn't realize I was so scared.

She gasped and whipped her head around to see me awake and sitting up, she turned her head away and moved her hands in front of her face for a second before turning back around. "Nothing's wrong," She forced a smile and anyone could have told you the smile was fake if the redness in her eyes and puffiness around them didn't.

I moved down to sit behind her and wrapped my arms around her stomach, "Why are you crying and how can I make it stop?"

She laughed lightly and hugged my arms, "Can I be honest with you? Just brutally honest?"

"Of course, say whatever you want to say," I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

She sniffed and sighed, "I…I really am not saying this to hurt your feelings or anything but…I don't know if I'm ready to move yet Edward. I mean, two weeks after we get back? We're a week into our vacation; do you realize that we're moving three weeks from now? I'm going to leave my friends, my family, and all my memories in California!"

It was my turn to sigh, I hugged her tightly and leaned my chin against her shoulder, "I was up for a while last night thinking about that…it was torturing me to think about how selfish I've been with you. You're willing to do anything I want you to no matter how insane it is. I mean…first you agree to marry me after a month of knowing me, then you actually marry me, and now you're willing to move to another hemisphere just because I want you there with me. And I know how much influence I have on you now that you've told me; I've been quite unfair to you Bella."

"How is any of that unfair Edward?" She turned her head to look at me, "I agreed to marry you, you didn't make me. I also wanted to marry you; you couldn't make me marry you. I also said I would move here with you; I want to be wherever you are Edward. If that means leaving behind my home and traveling with you then so be it. Maybe I'm scared about it but being without you is a horrifying nightmare to me." She seemed so sure of herself in her speech; I just had to wonder if it was just to make me feel better.

"If you're so sure about living in London with me then why did I have the misfortune of waking up to see my wife crying?" I turned my face against her neck and shut my eyes tightly.

"It's just nervous energy. Didn't you feel something like that when you moved over there?" She countered.

"I knew I was only going to be there for a year…you on the other hand had no idea I would show up in your life and turn everything upside down. Now we're married and you're going to leave everything to live with me in London because I want you to." I huffed and hugged her tighter.

Her hands grasped my arms tightly as she leaned her head against mine, "Marriage is all about compromise. We have to give one hundred percent all the time or this won't work and if you need to live in London to work then I'll live here with you and I'll work here."

"Nothing you say will make me feel better about doing this to you. I do want to give you more time at home though…I'll have to see if we can postpone the move date." I lifted my head and kissed her cheek.

"I think a little more time will be just the remedy. Please don't torture yourself over this; I'll be fine, really." She tried to assure me.

Even though something in her eyes made me wonder if I really should believe her, I told her I believed her and moved on to the subject of breakfast. "I'd love some more of those pancakes of yours!" She grinned and stood up to stretch out.

"Should I try to spell out your name for a pancake?" I joked as she walked over to the bathroom. She laughed and shook her head as she shut the door.

* * *

When she came out, I walked around her and shut the door to brush my teeth and all of that morning routine nonsense. By the time I'd come out of the bathroom, she was already downstairs and was stretching on her yoga mat.

"No man could be so lucky as I to come down the stairs and see your beautiful figure doing that," I grinned at her as I walked over to the fridge.

She stood up and blushed a bright red, "Don't say things like that!"

I laughed and downed a bit of water from a glass, "Why are you embarrassed about things like that? We're married, there's no need to be embarrassed."

She sighed and walked over to the kitchen island, "Old habits die slowly and painfully."

She said the most hilarious things sometimes; I never knew how she came up with such things. "Go back to your yoga mat and I'll make some pancakes for you." I smiled as I pulled a frying pan out from a cabinet.

While I was making the pancakes, I looked over into the dining room and noticed I still hadn't taken down all of those drapes and whatnot. Maybe we could-but she interrupted my thought process by informing me a pancake was burning.

"Aw, too bad. That one was shaped like an egg!" I laughed and flipped it over into the trash can.

"I think you've made enough already. I couldn't eat all of the ones you gave me the other day!" She smiled and got the syrup out of the fridge.

"Hey, let's say we eat in there?" I pointed over to the dining room.

Her eyebrow raised and her lips curved up at the ends, "Now why would you want to eat in there and not outside?"

"Because it's more comfortable in there," I shrugged nonchalantly and brought the silverware and butter unto the other room.

Just as I'd gotten her to lay back on the pillows covering the floor, she pushed me up and blushed, "Um…sorry to kill the mood but…I'm sort of…off limits for a few days."

I tried to decipher the look she was giving me and I finally figured out what she meant after a few more hints. "Bella…I don't think we ever really had this problem before being married-"

"Can we please not go into details? This is an extremely awkward subject and I'd like to move on to another one!" She said hurriedly.

"All right, so I guess I have to keep myself to myself for a little while then?" I huffed. She nodded quickly and somehow ate the rest of her pancakes on her plate.

* * *

The night before we had to leave to fly back to California, we barely slept at all. We wanted to make the most of our last few hours in this small slice of heaven that we'd so freely enjoyed for the past two weeks. We both were so incredibly exhausted when we finally did go to sleep and even more tired when we had to wake up three hours later.

Our bags had been packed the previous day so we just had to catch a taxi to get to the airport. She basically cut off the circulation in my arm and hid her head in my shoulder the entire way to the airport. I wished I'd had the same choice because the driver's driving scared the crap out of me too.

When we got to the airport, I gave her a long kiss before we went inside, "Bella…this has only been the beginning of a lifetime together. Promise me we'll always feel this way."

She laughed happily and hugged me tightly, "I promise."

* * *

Needless to say, we slept the entire way back and if not for the first class seats my parents had gotten for us, we might have slept half as much as we had. The trip home took us somewhere around twelve hours or so and I was almost sorry I wasn't awake to relish in the last fleeting moments of our honeymoon or the in-flight movies.

When we got out of the terminal, I was absolutely shocked to find my parents standing beside Bella's and her friends. I greeted them warmly of course but I had to ask what they were doing here and how long they'd been here. They said they'd come here for vacation of course, why couldn't they take one if I had?

Bella was crying in excitement as she had five people trying to hug her all at once. I wondered if she would ever really be ready to leave any of these people behind.

After we late lunch with all nine of them, Bella and I headed back to our apartment where I carried her in bridal style. She insisted it wasn't necessary but I swept her up into my arms anyways and carried her inside.

"Let's unpack and get that out of the way, what do you say?" She smiled at me.

"Oh my dear Bella, you know I hate unpacking," I laughed and pulled my suitcase in behind her.

"I can do it for you if you'd like," She offered.

"This isn't the Fifties Bella, nor am I accustomed to having a woman do my chores for me. I'll unpack my clothes and you unpack yours," I gave her a kiss before dragging my suitcase back to our bedroom.

* * *

Okay, slightly abrupt ending...but...that's just where it ended. XD

Remember: _**20 Reviews**_.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and an extra SPECIAL thanks to those few who consistently review my chapters. Ya'll know who you are. :]

*ShiningStarr*


	40. Chapter 40: Love This Part Right Here

I'm just going to cut to the chase. Thank you to every single person who has reviewed this story. You all took the time to tell me what you thought about my chapters and I truly do appreciate it. I read every single review; maybe I didn't reply to everyone, but I read them all, so don't think yours went unnoticed.

Just to let you know, this IS the last chapter. I recommend you read this all the way to bottom of the page. *hint hint wink wink*

_**Dislcaimer: This final chapter doesn't mean I own the Twilight characters...it just means I own the plot. MWAHAHAHA...**_.

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Chapter 40: Love This Part Right Here

It was hard to believe a year had gone by since I'd left California…I'd had such a hard time leaving everyone behind while I moved to London with Edward. I'd actually delayed any plans of moving for about two months and then Edward and I decided that I was just stalling. Of course I cried after we unpacked in London, what other way could I express my sorrow of leaving my three best friends and my parents behind?

Naturally, Edward was distressed that I was upset and seeing him fuss and worry over me didn't help at all. It took me a while to get over the initial shock of moving, but once we were settled down, I started to get a little more used to the London life. Once I began to cheer up, Edward became enthusiastic and was desperately trying to find ways to entertain me.

Perhaps the only thing holding me back from truly being happy was that I knew one day he'd tell me he had to travel somewhere to write a book. I'd transferred over here from my job at the marketing firm so I couldn't just take months off at a time. One day he'd have to leave and I'd be stuck here without him; maybe if I were back at home it would have been easier.

One day at breakfast, I'd had dreams about him leaving and they stressed me out enough that he noticed and begged me to tell him what was wrong. When I voiced my concerns, he sighed and nodded, "I've been talking with a publisher here in London and they've said they'll send me where I need to go, but I'd have to be gone for at least a month Bella."

Looking back at how painful his first time away from me was made me cringe now. He'd gone off on several of these trips now in a year and he was coming home tomorrow. I'd cleaned the house excessively and laughed when I saw how impeccable the place was; he'd probably make some comment about how he spent too much time away from me if he came home to a house this clean.

When I finally managed to go to sleep that night, my dreams were about my meeting him at the airport tomorrow when he returned from Ireland. My dreams were certainly inappropriate and when I woke up I blushed; yes, I still blushed at almost any sexual reference he made but I was very slowly becoming immune to it.

As I straightened my hair and put some make-up on, I had to wonder what he'd brought back for me this time. No matter where he went, he always managed to find several things for me that I just adored. His first trip had been to Egypt of all places and he'd come back with a beautiful tan and a pair of hand-made Egyptian sandals. His second trip to Russia brought him back with a cold and a fur hat made from sable hair. His third trip brought him back from India with some Henna tattoos on his hand and some gorgeous wraps I only wore on 'special' occasions.

This trip had taken him to Quebec and I was jealous he'd gotten so near to the United States. In the midst of my bouncing up and down looking for him, my phone rang; he was calling me so I answered it with a grin, "Where are you my love?"

"Trying to get off of the plane. My publisher may pay for my trip but they buy the cheapest seats possible so I'm in the back of the plane nearly!" He huffed.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere so don't run over anyone to get here!" I tried to encourage him.

"Did I hear a slight bit of British in your voice just then?" He laughed happily.

"Uh…I don't know, what did I say?" I blushed, not realizing it had rubbed off on me any.

"I think you used it when you said 'so don't'. Aw, my wifey is finally turning British!" He cooed.

I rolled my eyes and groaned, "Don't flatter yourself."

He finally came into view and I had to contain myself so I wouldn't run over someone to get to him.

He embraced me firmly and kissed my forehead, "My word I miss you more and more every time I go away. I don't know how much more of this I can't take!"

"Maybe once your books start selling I can quit my job and start working for you?" I suggested.

"I'd love nothing more than to have you on my trips but I doubt my publisher would agree to pay for you unless we wrote the books together." He grinned.

"And I'm horrible with grammar so I don't think that would work," I laughed.

* * *

We went out to eat at a fairly pricey restaurant but he insisted he could afford it, I didn't complain anymore but I wondered how much the bill would be. Once we were at our candlelit table waiting for our food to come, he grabbed my hand softly and stared into my eyes.

Having him back here with me made me instantly at peace so I smiled and gazed back at him. His fingers pushed my engagement ring back and forth over my finger, "I can't tell you how happy I am you wear that now."

"No one really knows me here except for the people at work so I don't have to be embarrassed about how humongous it is!" I joked.

He rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand, "Did you really not wear it when I first gave it to you because of how large it was?"

I nodded sheepishly, "I was a pretty shy person Edward."

He nodded and smiled, "You were a shy person?"

I groaned and pulled my hand away, "Sorry I'm not as flamboyant as you!"

"Bella, please don't be upset! I'm sorry!" His face instantly showed sorrow and I couldn't help but to forgive him.

* * *

Once we were at home, I wanted some time to make-up for all the time we were apart but he begged me to spare him a few hours to sleep. He looked exhausted from the moment I saw him in the airport, so I was confused why he'd want to stay out longer but I didn't argue. I agreed to spare him for the night, which meant I'd have to wait nearly another day before we could spend some time together; stupid work.

He was dead asleep when I had to leave for work the next morning; I walked around like a mouse to avoid waking him. Once I was at work I couldn't wait until I could go home and I knew it would be a long day. The girl who worked in the office right next to mine came over with a big smile on her face, "So, how is your husband?"

"He's practically unconscious at home right now," I laughed almost envying him sleeping right now.

"Aw, is he always so tired after he gets home from his trips?" She sat in the chair across from my desk.

"Yeah, he took me out to eat of all things…once we got home he basically just got into bed and fell asleep." I sighed, looking at a picture on my desk of Edward and I in one of our wedding photos.

"Poor guy…well I know you're going to be exhausted coming in to work tomorrow," she joked.

"Alice," I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Even if you never told me what day he got back…I'd know you were reunited because you'd come into work with an insane grin on your face but you'd look like you'd barely slept." She teased.

I blushed as she went on giggling in front of me.

* * *

When I'd gone on my lunch break, Edward finally called, "Hey, sorry I was so boring last night. I can't believe how tired I get when I come back from these trips."

"It's okay Edward, I know traveling is exhausting. I just hope you're a little more energetic tonight. I missed you so much…" I bit my lower lip as I grinned.

"Mmm, I missed you so much too Bella. Going more than a month without being near you is all I can bear. I hope I can have more time at home with you now." He sighed.

"We just have to make the best with what time we have," I encouraged as I heated up some macaroni in the microwave.

"So true. All right well I have to go meet with my publisher to go over my trip. I'll see you later today. Love you sweetheart."

"Love you too. Bye."

Waiting for the rest of the work day was nearly unbearable; Alice just laughed every time she walked by my office and saw my foot shaking in the air. When it did finally roll around to five, I all but ran out the door to my car.

Oh geez, every time I looked at my car I rolled my eyes; I couldn't bring my car over here and was settled to taking taxis and subways (a.k.a. the Underground), but Edward's parents had nearly killed me in shock the day they came to our flat and brought me down to the street to see my brand new Audi S4. I guess I shouldn't have been too ignorant of the Cullen's love for gift giving at any occasion as they'd bought Edward a new BMW upon his moving back to London.

Driving still felt backwards to me with driving on the wrong side of the road with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Once I got home and parked in the parking garage, I walked quickly to my apartment and kicked my shoes off right as Edward came sliding into the hallway to the door. He immediately launched an attack on me and I surrendered completely. It had been closer to two months that he'd been gone so we both had a bit of built up excitement and finally being together was the best possible present he'd ever brought back.

Very later in the evening when neither of us could move or barely breathe, he pulled a box off of the floor and put it on my stomach, "For you my love."

I smiled and sat up against the headboard, "Thanks." When I tore the paper off and pulled the lid off of the box, I pulled out a green, satin fedora with a red and white feather on the left side. I gasped somehow and put the hat on my head, "It's adorable!"

"It looks a lot better on you than it did the girl in the store." He laughed.

* * *

Two months went by and in that time span we had our first intense argument over who was supposed to do laundry that week. Our clothes had been piling up and I'd try to mildly hint to him to do the laundry but he never caught my hints. I had raised my voice first but he only matched me, he never tried to be louder. He finally reminded me that it was my turn to do laundry because last week he'd had to do the huge load of towels when the sink overflowed. It had stopped me cold in my argument and I'd started crying of all things; maybe I just felt stupid but I couldn't figure out why I was crying so hard over laundry.

Two more weeks went by and I found myself having mood swings more frequently; I looked up my symptoms on Wed MD and came to the conclusion I had bipolar disorder. Edward thought I was being ridiculous but decided to humor me and made an appointment for me to see a doctor his mother went to.

After all, since I was part of their family I had to trust the people they trusted.

My appointment was the day after tomorrow, which was Sunday, so I had a wonderful Saturday to spend with Edward. "So when does your next book come out?" I asked as I snuggled up to him.

"In two months. My publisher asked if I'd be interested in possibly writing more books for the Tourism center here in London…what do you think?" He squeezed my leg and looked into my eyes.

Edward valued my opinion on his books more than anyone's for some reason, so I always made sure to oblige him, "I think that would be a great idea actually! I bet it would help your sales!"

"True…I just have to sign a contract with them if I want to do this and I don't know if that would mean more trips or just more time away from you," He huffed and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"Well…we'll just have to think on it. How much time do you have?" I asked softly.

"Two weeks…" He huffed and rubbed his face.

"Let's just keep talking it over and we'll decide later, all right?" I smiled and kissed his jaw. "That sounds like a good idea." He kissed me back, only on the lips.

* * *

I was anxious to get to the doctor the next day so waiting in the waiting room was torture. "If I know what I have I don't see why I have to come here!" I whispered annoyed.

"A friend of mine convinced himself that the recurring pains in his head were a brain tumor but his doctor came up with the diagnosis that he had chronic migraines because of his allergies. Do you get the point?" He leaned his forehead against mine as I nodded.

We finally got back to the room and I was pleasantly surprised to find out I had a female doctor in her late forties with red hair and perfectly white teeth. We got over the questions and examination and I explained that I'd done some research and come to the conclusion I had bipolar disorder. She smiled as I explained and told me at the conclusion of my speech that many people misdiagnosed themselves; she gave me an example of a man who was sure he was dying of cancer because of some pain in his stomach but when he went to a doctor, he found out he just had ulcers in his stomach.

I had to do the mandatory blood and urine tests and wait for the results to come back so Edward and I sat in the little room waiting for the doctor to come back.

"I'm sure you're fine…even if you do have bipolar disorder…it's not that big of a deal." He smiled and kissed me.

Half an hour later the doctor came back in smiling, "I'm happy to tell you that you don't have bipolar disorder-"

"I told you!" Edward smiled.

"Per se," the doctor added.

"What?" We both asked.

The woman laughed politely and sat down in her tall chair, "I guess I'll just tell you the diagnosis…you're going to have a baby Mrs. Cullen."

Edward's jaw dropped and my eyes went wide.

"Wait, what?" Edward asked in a strained voice.

"In about seven months you're going to be parents." She laughed happily.

"Oh my god," I gasped lightly.

The smile slowly broke out across my face and then I started laughing. Edward gave me a shocked look and then looked at the floor, "My parents are going to flip out." We all laughed and eventually the woman started handing me different boxes with pictures of pregnant women and babies on them. I vaguely understood her as I put my hand on my stomach and felt a hardness beneath my skin. Edward took my hand and as I looked at him I was astounded by the most angelic smile I'd ever seen on his face.

I'd once told myself that having kids would be cruel because I'd love Edward too much and not love them enough…but I was horribly wrong about that. I wanted to have a boy so he could grow up to be exactly like his father.

Once we were in the car going home, I called everyone and shared the news. Margot jokingly suggested we make our children 'intended' for each other as she'd had a girl and hoped mine would be a boy.

"I can't travel while you're carrying my child." Edward spoke quietly as we sat on the couch with both our hands on my stomach.

"Oh don't be silly, you have another good five or six months to travel before we could expect anything to happen. Gah, how could I miss being pregnant for two months! No wonder my jeans are getting tighter!" I laughed.

"No, really, I can't be away from you when you're pregnant…I want to be here for every moment of it. When it first moves and kicks and all of that." He kissed me ferociously and I wasn't going to argue with him when he kissed this passionately.

"Edward…thanks for almost running into me with your car."

"What for?"

"If you hadn't I'd never have met you and we wouldn't be so happy."

"Oh yeah…no problem."

* * *

HUZZAH. BABY CULLEN. hahaha.

So...I told you all to read to the very bottom of this page. I hope you did...because I have a super duper offer for you.

If I can get **50 REVIEWS**...yes, 50...I will post...

*dramatic pause*

*drumroll...*

...**THE EPILOGUE! \0.0/**

It's up to you crazy awesome fictioneers. If you want the epilogue (which is highly awesome), you gotta REVIEW REVIEW REVIEWWWWWW. :D

It has been a pleasure posting these chapters from you all. I have a bajillion other chapters of stuff I've written...most of it involves non-fictional people which isn't allowed on FF . net so I don't know if it'll ever get posted. I'm working on a story right now that is currently at 54 completed chapters and I'm thinking of turning it into another Twilight story. I dunno. Depends on the kind of response I get for this chapter. -hint hint wink wink-

***ShiningStarr***  
p.s. follow my random tweetness twitter . com / meggiemonstre


	41. Epilogue

HUZZAH. Here is the epiligue! :D I know I said I wanted 50 reviews before I put it out, but SADLY, the mark was no where near reached. Y'all were a little more than 1/5 of the way there. I had decided to just post this after a month if you guys hadn't reached the goal I'd set.

Soooooo, even though I cried buckets of tears from lack of reviews (that is sarcasm ladies and gents), I am posting up this LOVERLY epilogue for your reading enjoyment. :)

So...for the last time in this story (SOB)..._**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the characters from the Twilight story, just this Twilight spin off plot.

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**_Epilogue

This morning wasn't really different from any other morning I'd woken up to in the last five months…except that my stomach felt bigger today. I looked down at my stomach and just thought about how my life had changed since I'd found out there was another human being inside of me, and a miniature one at that.

I sat up slowly, so as not to wake Edward, and proceeded to lift up my shirt and run my fingers over my stretched skin. I couldn't believe how hard my stomach felt; that was the one thing that I found most surprising besides the time when I realized my baby had first started kicking. It was more annoying than surprising, but the little kid liked to push its feet up against my chest so I had to lean back to breathe normally.

Edward was practically unconscious beside me; he'd come home late last night from a trip to Germany. I'd gone to the airport to pick him up and when he finally found me, he immediately ran to me and asked how 'our' health was. My poor Edward, he'd tried as hard as he could not to travel while I was pregnant, but it was unavoidable. He'd been gone for about two months together since we'd gotten the news and he was always worried something would happen while he was away. I knew he stayed up late to worry about me because he'd call me late at night claiming to think it was earlier. Every time I talked to him I assured him I was fine and that his parents were doing a perfectly good job of taking care of me.

I was working from home now, so at least it took the worry from him of me getting into some kind of wreck and injuring either one of us.

We never found out what gender the baby was because we wanted to be surprised. Sure it made decorating harder but it gave us something to look forward to.

While sitting up in my bed, I realized I was nearly ravenous. My stomach was growling so I slowly got up and walked even slower into the kitchen. I wondered how my stomach could get any bigger at this point, honestly.

I popped some plain waffles into our toaster and waited for them to pop up. As I sat on the stool waiting, my cell phone rang beside me.

"Hey Margot!" I greeted cheerfully.

"How is the mom-to-be?" She laughed happily.

"Doing perfectly well. Edward got back late last night and he still hasn't woken up." We both had a good laugh at that.

"So how is he dealing with all of this?" She asked curiously.

"He's being a normal first-time dad: he's freaking out." We laughed again.

"Poor guy. I bet all of his traveling is killing him." She commented sympathetically.

"Yeah…I feel bad for him. I don't want him to worry, I mean really, I have the best OB/GYN in London taking care of me and his parents come by every day to make sure I'm being taken care of properly." I sighed.

"Wow, you got it good over there." She joked. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"By the way, you sound a little more British than the last time I spoke to you." She teased.

I groaned and rubbed my forehead, "Yeah, for some reason I'm losing my American accent and turning into a Brit since I got pregnant. I don't know what's going on with me!"

We talked for another twenty minutes before she exclaimed, "Oh! I completely forgot to tell you the point of me calling! Steve finally proposed!"

I had an urge to let out a really high-pitched girly squeal but I suppressed it and just laughed happily, "Oh my god Margot, finally! How long have you two had a child together now?"

"Oh shut up you! It didn't take you too long to get knocked up after you got married!" She retorted.

"It was at least a year Margot!" I scoffed jokingly.

"Still, that's not too much time after you got married!" She laughed.

"Would you have preferred I wait a few more years?" I grinned.

I could hear Edward groaning as he woke up and rolled around in the bed. "Oh, Margot, I think I woke Edward up!" I cringed as I heard the bathroom door shut.

"Crap, I'm sorry! Do you need to go then?" She apologized.

"Yes, probably. I'll call you later okay? Love you girl, bye!"

"Bye Bella!"

I heard the water faucet turn on in the bathroom so I put in some more waffles as I realized I was still quite hungry.

He came in looking half-awake with his hair looking disheveled but incredibly sexy, "Hey beautiful, how are you today?"

I smiled affectionately at him and ran my hands lightly over his face, "I'm perfectly fine as always. I'm more worried about you; I feel like I'm living with a zombie!"

He laughed and stretched his arms out to the sides, "Hopefully I'll catch up on my sleep then. My publisher has promised I won't have to leave for another two months but when I do leave it'll only be for two or three weeks at a time."

I hugged him as best as I could and rested my head on his shoulder, "Good. I'm so depressed when you're not here!" I'd said it jokingly but he took me seriously.

"No, please don't be depressed! You know if you're depressed then I will be too. You know I don't want to leave you for any reason!" He hugged me tightly and jumped back when the baby kicked my stomach right against where his stomach was.

His eyes locked onto my stomach and it took him a minute to look back up at me, "Did…did the baby just move?" I nodded, realizing he didn't know the baby was starting to kick. He laughed loudly once and his face broke out into an ecstatic grin; I'd never seen him so jubilant and it made me want to cry because he looked so beautiful.

"My god, when did this start happening?" He put his hands on the sides of my stomach right as the baby kicked again.

We both laughed and I could feel the tears streaming down my face, stupid hormones, "I guess it started moving a few days after you left…I think it finally realized it was you stroking my stomach all the time and when you left…it missed you."

His eyes started to water right as he pulled me into a warm, firm hug. "Bella this has got to be one of the happiest days of my life! My god, I feel like all of this is a dream!"

My hormones kicked into a slight overdrive and I started crying against his chest, "I know! I'm just…so happy I have you here with me!" He hugged me a little bit tighter, but not as tight as I would have liked; he was probably concerned about hurting the baby if he hugged me too hard.

"Bella," He laughed lightly, "I'm so unused to seeing you cry like this. I know you're happy so these aren't bad tears, but I don't know what I should do!" I smiled and wiped my tears off my face with my shirt collar.

The waffles finally popped up so I jumped in surprise and realized I had to go to the bathroom; there really wasn't too much room for a bladder when there was a baby growing in your stomach.

"Did you put those in for me?" He smiled lovingly.

I blushed and smiled, "No, actually, I'm just really hungry so I made those for me. You can have them if you want them though; I need to go to the bathroom!" I laughed and walked over to the bathroom.

* * *

A few days went by and I started to think about having the baby in London; would I want my baby to be born where only Edward's parents would really be able to come? After I first found out I was pregnant, I'd always imagined having my baby where my parents and my friends could come to support me…but now they were six thousand miles away and getting over here would take nearly a day. I'd also thought about whether or not I wanted my child to be born in the States to be an American citizen or if I'd want to have it over here to be a European citizen. I'd also wondered if Edward had thought of these things so I waited until he'd gotten out of the shower and got dressed to ask him.

"Edward, I've been thinking…living here in London…only_ your_ parents would be able to come see the baby being born…and I know my parents would probably like to be around when it happens but with them living so far away it would take a long time for them to get here. And as for my friends, I'm pretty sure they'd like to be able to be there to support me." I gave him a slightly pathetic look to show my concern on the issue.

He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, "I've been thinking about that too actually…and as to whether or not we would have the baby here or back in the States."

"Exactly!" I laughed, relieved that we were on the same wavelength.

He walked me out into the living room to sit down and talk more about this, "Honestly, I think you should have the final say in this. You're the one having the baby and all. I'm just going to be freaking out the whole time really."

He laughed but I just smiled, "You're the father though. You have an equal say in this decision. I just don't know where I want the baby to be born."

He nodded again, "Well…we still have a few months, but I imagine if we want to make any big changes in plans we ought to make them as soon as possible."

"You know, I don't really know that I care _where_ the baby is born so much as I care that my parents get to be here for it." I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Do you think maybe we should talk to our parents about it? If that's the big issue here then let's ask them." He suggested.

"You're so smart!" I laughed and kissed him. He grinned at me when I leaned my head back from his.

"Oh please don't tell me that look means what I think it does!" I groaned jokingly.

"Come on! The doctor said it was fine and I can't stand having these month long abstinences! They get longer every time I'm gone!" He pleaded. I laughed and leaned over to kiss him again but the baby intervened and pushed its feet against my diaphragm again.

I grunted and arched my back off of the couch to breathe. Edward freaked out and started asking me what was wrong very loudly. I grabbed his shoulder and then put my hand over his mouth. He shut up until I sat back against the couch, "What's wrong? Does something hurt?"

I shook my head and panted a little bit, "Baby likes to push up against my chest sometimes…it makes it harder to breathe so I have to lean back."

"Is that normal?" He still looked frantic.

I nodded, "I did the same thing with my mother apparently. I just like to think I was tired of sitting inside there and wanted to get out and see the world."

We sat on the couch for a while beside each other. He had his arm around my shoulders and his other hand was caressing my stomach, "The fact that you can make a child inside of you absolutely blows my mind."

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, why can't men do that?"

He laughed loudly at that and kissed me when he stopped, "Isabella, you are so incredibly funny sometimes. I hope you know that." I shrugged jokingly and placed my hands on top of my stomach.

* * *

Two months later we found ourselves in the same position, only this time my stomach was substantially larger and we were on a plane heading towards the States. My doctor in London had told me that I shouldn't have any problems with flying since I was healthy; Edward of course, needed much more reassuring than I did, but he finally became convinced after talking with my doctor for half an hour.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Edward asked for the millionth time even though we'd only been in the air for several hours.

I nodded and closed my eyes, "I'm fine Edward. If I become un-fine, I will let you know." He smiled and squeezed my hand.

About an hour before we had to land, Edward got a strange look on his face like he was thinking hard about something.

"Your face will stay that way if you do that too long," I joked.

His face smoothed out as he looked at me and smiled, "I was just trying to remember if we'd ever talked about names."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped a little, "We haven't! Edward how have we never talked about this before?" I slapped my hand over my mouth and wondered how on earth I could have gone eight months without realizing this.

"We still have a week. That gives us time to think about it." He took my hand away from my mouth and kissed the back of it.

* * *

We spent the next hour going over names for boys and girls but we couldn't find one that we really liked for either gender. "There's always the option of naming it Edward if it's a boy." He grinned.

"No! You already have the same name as your dad." I groaned, earning another laugh from him.

"I do like your mother's name though…Esme." I suggested.

(A/N: Don't worry, there will be no name smushing here)

"No, I don't really like it. I mean, I like it for my mother, but not for my daughter." He shrugged.

"All right," I had a sudden brainwave, "I'm getting on the internet when we get there and I'm searching names."

He nodded his head, "Good idea."

We arrived at the airport half an hour early so I went to a computer and got on the internet; my parents wouldn't expect us for a little while so I had some time to search. Edward sat next to me, pointing out names he liked. I found myself looking at girls' names for the time being, I think I wanted my baby to be a girl.

"What do you think of the name Sakura?" I stopped scrolling on the page when I saw it. It was a Japanese name that meant 'cherry blossoms' but I thought it was a beautiful name. Edward was giving me a look that said, 'Are you serious?' I smirked sadly and continued scrolling.

"Wait," his hand pulled my hand away from the mouse and he pointed to a name, "What about that one?"

"How are you even supposed to say it?" I scoffed.

He pulled up another page and googled the name, "Ah, here we go! Suh-lo-me. Salome."

I let the name mull around in my head for a minute, "Maybe it can be a middle name."

"Oh please! First name pleeeeease?" He laughed and put on a sad face.

"Maybe. Let's just keep looking."

"What about Scarlett?" Edward pointed the name out on the screen.

"Ever heard of 'Gone With the Wind'?" I smirked.

"So? It's a pretty name and I've never met anyone with that name." He shrugged.

I kept looking even though Scarlett was growing on me.

We switched to boys' names when we had fifteen minutes left. "Okay, I know this might be a little out there…but I really like the name Sawyer," I looked at Edward sideways.

"I vote that to be a middle name consideration."

I nodded and kept looking. "How about Alfonso?" I suggested sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and motioned for me to keep looking.

We had to leave before we could find any other boys' names we liked. I hoped the baby would turn out to be a girl so I wouldn't have to keep looking.

My parents and my three best girl friends were waiting for us when we walked out of the terminal. They all gushed over how beautiful I looked and how big my stomach was. "Are you sure there's only one in there?" Margot joked.

I gave her a small glare and nudged her arm, "Come on now, don't make fun of the pregnant lady!"

* * *

Edward and I had rented a hotel room for about a month because we didn't really know how long it would take. He'd brought his laptop with him to continue writing whilst here, and I didn't really have anything to do since I was on maternity leave.

It was a lovely spring afternoon in Los Angeles, May 1st to be exact, and I was soaking in some sun next to the open window while Edward typed away in the kitchen area. I was drawing random patterns on my stomach when I realized I really needed to go to the bathroom. After managing to push myself up out of the chair, I took a breath and started to waddle on over to the bathroom. I had to pee so badly I thought I wouldn't make it, but thankfully I did. I was glad I'd had a dress on, it made it easier and faster to go to the bathroom. I washed my hands and reached for the door when my stomach suddenly felt like it was being squeezed hard. I'd wondered if maybe I'd gotten up too fast from the chair earlier but wouldn't that have been my back? I didn't scream, but the pain only subsided slightly. I leaned back thinking the baby was pushing against my chest, but it didn't help.

I was gripping the door handle so hard that my knuckles were white and the bones were jutting up against my skin. When I'd stood there for a few more minutes waiting for the pain to go away completely, it came back stronger than it had before.

"Oh god…" I huffed and tried to remember from my OB/GYN if this was a sign I was going into labor. Suddenly, I felt something dripping down my leg so I lifted up the hem of my dress to see a clear fluid going down my leg. "Oh my-Edward!" I yelled and opened the door.

His chair must have hit the floor from the sound I heard right before he slid in front of the bathroom, "What's wrong?"

"I'm having contractions!" I grunted as another one came on.

"Oh my god!" He ran to the phone and called my doctor.

He grabbed my bag I'd prepared for this day and got me down into my old car I'd left here with Yvette (who gave it back to me while I was here). Every time I groaned in pain his foot hit the accelerator harder.

Once we got into the ER, I was put into a wheelchair and rushed back into a room where my doctor came in. "Hello Mrs. Cullen, how are we?" The woman asked as she put her stethoscope against my stomach. "In pain," I huffed sarcastically.

"How far along are you?" She asked as her eyebrows pulled down closer to her eyes.

"About thirty three weeks," Edward answered for me.

She put my legs up into those holster things and lifted up my dress, "Your baby is definitely coming today. Don't worry though," she saw Edward's terrified face and tried to reassure him, "babies come early sometimes. My own son came about four weeks early and he turned out just fine." Edward's face smoothed just slightly.

* * *

An hour later I was in another room with sweat covering my face and I'm pretty sure I was crushing Edward's hand. "Come on Bella, you need to keep pushing!" The doctor called out to me.

"I can't, oh god I can't!" I cried as tears streamed down my face. Edward pushed my hair out of my eyes and made me look into his eyes, "Yes you can. And anyway, you have to even if you don't think you can!" He grinned wildly at me and I gave him a short laugh before giving one last effort and finally hearing the doctor call for a blanket.

I laughed happily and looked up at Edward who was looking over in the corner of the room. He was not smiling and his eyes looked terrified again.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I pulled his head down.

"She's not crying Bella." He pulled his head back up and looked back over in the corner.

I had a baby girl? Wait, was her not crying a bad thing?

My senses started calming down enough to where I suddenly realized what was going on and heard the doctor saying something about 'lungs aren't fully developed'. "Oh god Edward," I pulled on his scrub sleeve and started crying right as he hugged me against his chest. My voice sounded absolutely terrible as I sobbed against him. His arms were so tight around me like I wished they had been a few months ago, but now they weren't tight enough. "Cry! D*mmit cry!" I shouted into the room.

The seconds ticked by and kept going. "Edward," I sobbed quietly.

I heard a shrill cry in the room and when I realized it wasn't me, my head came away from Edward and I leaned around him. My baby was crying loudly.

Edward and I looked at each other in the same moment and we kissed heavily until the doctor brought our baby over, minutes later, wrapped in a pink blanket. I laughed joyfully when my baby girl was placed in my arms, "Oh my god…I have a daughter!" Edward sat down beside my legs and marveled over her exactly as I was.

"Do you have a name picked out?" The doctor grinned as she pulled off her gloves and surgical mask. I looked up at Robert who just smiled at me.

"Salome." I nodded. His smile got wider if at all possible.

One of the nurses came over and asked, "What did you name her?"

"Salome," I grinned and touch my little girl's nose.

"I thought you did. That's my name too." She laughed.

(A/N: Salome is a Jewish name and I think it's really beautiful! And yes, I do actually know someone named Salome.)

Edward and I looked at each other in slight surprise but we smiled.

Later as we signed our daughter's birth certificate, we still hadn't picked out a middle name.

"It needs to flow when you say her name." Edward commented as we stared at the paper. "Salome Cullen…what goes in between?"

I thought through different letters and I suddenly said, "Nora."

"Nora?" He sounded surprised, "Salome Nora Cullen. Huh…I actually like that."

Salome, the nurse, smiled and made a note to have it filled in.

Edward laid down beside me on the hospital bed and wrapped me up in his arms, "Are there any words I can possibly use to say exactly how incredibly happy and amazed I am right now?"

I laughed, "You could use those." He kissed me lightly at first but the second kiss felt too familiar.

"There is no possible way to have sex right now. I hope you know that." I pulled my lips away from his.

"Believe me, I know." He laughed, "When they took you away to get cleaned up and everything I asked your doctor about it. It seems it's going to take about six weeks until that can happen."

My eyes widened, "What?"

* * *

Ahahahahahaha. Just try to picture Bella making a kind of 'O_O' face. XD So funny, hahaha.

Well...there you have it. The story is nice and tidy and finished. *depressing sigh*

I hope you all enjoyed reading my crazy little story! I don't know if/when I'll be posting anything else. I know that I have like...4 other stories on here that are unfinished but I don't know if those will ever be completed, haha. Being in college consumes a lot of time. Also, my Microsoft Office trial ran out so I can't use that anymore. MEHHHH. And I don't have a job right now so I'm not going to go and spend like...$200 to get MS Office. XD

So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersen, good bye! I hate to go and leave this pretty sight! Goodbyyyyyyeeeee!

But for real, THANK YOUUUUU to every single one of you who read and reviewed my story. I appreciate all of you! I may not post anything for a while, but I will be doing Beta work. I'm doing some of that for a fellow authoress and I love it! Editing and helping out friends is awesome! I also get to read something and not know what happens, hahahaha.

So, until next time...***ShiningStarr***


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